The Battle Of Two Hunters
by AnimeRocksMySox
Summary: The Hellsing Organization begins hunting Dante with the belief that he is a vampire. Meanwhile, Dante must put up with Lady and Trish, track down a new threat, and eat as much pizza as possible. Chapter 12 up!
1. Introductions

Heylo everyone! Well, this is my second attempt at a Devil May Cry/Hellsing crossover (I never uploaded the first one) so, hopefully, it'll turn out alright!

All of the main players will be introduced within the first 5 chapters, and there will be some appearances from Nero and Kyrie! (None of the Millenium crew sorry, I barely know anything about them XD)

So, I hope you enjoy the story!  


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"Dante? Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" Demanded Lady, leaning over the desk, with both hands flat on the wooden surface. Dante grunted a half-hearted reply, and continued to read his magazine. She sighed, and stood up straight, but still with one hand grazing the desk, the other one rested on the hip of her shorts.

"I'm not playing around, if you don't get your act together, you're gonna be in more trouble than you can handle" She threatened, slamming down her fist to emphasize the point.

"It won't work, he'll stay lazy until the bitter end." Chuckled the tall, blonde woman who had just entered the shop. She was wearing a black leather corset, with a white lighting bolt zipper. She had black leather trousers to match, as well as a belt which held two guns.

"It's been a while, Trish. How've you been?" Asked Lady, turning around to greet her.

"Not so bad, but I'm sick of all the low class demons that I've had to deal with lately. Not a single fight lasting over 5 minutes. It's pitiful," She started, walking over to the desk, and picking up an empty pizza box. She threw it back down on the table with a slight look of disgust "But not as pitiful as the state of this place" She continued "Honestly Dante, you really should clean up once in a while."

"Just moments ago you were saying he'd never change. And you say I shouldn't bother trying to convince him." Lady stated bluntly, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Ladies, ladies," Dante said over the top of his magazine "Continue your squabbling somewhere else, I'm trying to-" He was cut off by the phone ringing. Lady reached over and picked up the receiver,

"This is Devil May Cr-" She towards Dante "It's for you." She tossed the receiver over to him. He caught it, and put it to his ear.

"This is Dante, waddaya want?" He asked, sounding bored, while still browsing through the magazine "I'm not interested, got it?" with that he threw the receiver back onto the phone. Lady and Trish gave each other a quizzing look, then directed their attention to Dante.

"Well...?" They said unanimously.

"Who was it?" Trish continued, snatching the magazine from his hands

"Hey! I was reading that!" Dante protested. Lady and Trish continued to glare at him. He slid down in his chair, and rolled his eyes "It was some English chick, waffling on about something or another" He said casually, trying to grab the magazine back from Trish, who was holding it just out of his reach

"England? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were famous. However, why anyone would hire a lazy, irresponsible and downright mad man such as yourself beats me." She pondered, waving the magazine to taunt him.

"Yeah, I'm useless," Dante said, giving up on getting the magazine back. Instead he began rooting through the stacks of empty pizza boxes on his desk. "Crap, out of pizza." He grumbled, slumping back in his chair again.

"He's hopeless..." Trish and Lady sighed.

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Integra put down the phone, feeling rather confused, after having just been hung up on.

'What kind of monster is he?" She thought, considering the blunt personality she had gathered from her short conversation with Dante. 'And is he really as powerful as the rumors tell?'

"What happened, Ma'am?" Asked Walter, who had just entered Integra's office with a tray which was covered in a selection of fine cigars "Did he do anything?"

"No, no...He's just. Hmm, I'm not sure. He seemed rather blunt, however, when I first called, a woman answered." Integra explained, still trying to make sense of the conversation. She had called in the hopes of confirming a tip that Dante, a legendary mercenary, was in fact, nothing more than a vampire.

"So, no luck confirming the rumors then?" Walter asked, placing the tray gently on her desk and picked up one of the cigars and lighting it

"No. I was hoping to lure him to England, where we could get more intel, however as soon as I said 'I've got a job for you in England' he cut me off. Whether this means that he is a vampire, and knows what kind of threat we would be to him, or whether he is simply a mercenary who doesn't wish to go abroad, I cannot tell. However, the most curious piece of information is that the woman who answered the call began by saying 'devil may cry'. I believe that is the name of his office, however it could prove a link to inhumanity..." She trailed off.

"But you also know that this is nothing more than baseless conjecture, yes?" Walter asked, passing the cigar to her. She nodded, took the cigar, and had a puff.

"Yes. However, even if we do confirm that he is one, then what? He's not in England, we cannot claim his as ours to kill. On the other hand, I cannot allow a vampire which is rumored to be equal if not more powerful than Alucard to wander around unchecked, no matter what country."

"Well, perhaps you could send Alucard on a 'vacation'. If he happens to encounter vampires on his journey, it is only fair that he should destroy them, no?" Walter suggested, picking up the tray once again.

"Well, even so, we have no confirmation that Dante is indeed as powerful as the rumors. And he still may be just an ordinary human. Sending our own vampires all the way to America for a low grade vampire, or perhaps a human, is a waste of time, money and resources. Not to mention the risks it would entail." Integra countered.

"Of course Ma'am" Walter said with a bow, being careful not to tip up the tray as he did so. He stood back up and left the room, leaving Integra alone once again.


	2. Dockland Demons

Chapter 2! Enjoy :]

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*beep beep* *beep beep*

Dante looked at the alarm clock, it's dial showing that it was midday. He then crushed the alarm clock with his fist and threw the shrapnel at the wall.

"God damn noise." He grunted. He stumbled out of bed, groggily pulled on his clothes, and plodded downstairs.

Light filtered through the brown, aged windows, and illuminated the dust which floated freely through the air. Everything was covered in a milky glow, and gave the shop a mysterious feel. Dante however, didn't notice any of this, and instead headed straight for his desk, sat down, and picked up the same magazine from the night before. However, before he could get too engrossed in it, he heard a faint knock at the door. He looked up, and saw the door slowly open. A young woman, around 19 or 20, peered around the door. She had a white sweeping fringe, but explosive, spiked black hair at the back , and she was quite tall. She had deep blue eyes which, in the gloomy light, seemed to look purple, as well as a quite pointy nose, and dark purple, quite plump lips, and poking sideways out of her hair, were curiously pointed ears. She cautiously entered the shop, looking rather overwhelmed by the interior. She let out a yelp as she caught sight of Dante, who had been watching her the entire time.

"Well, well, I don't see many kids around here, unless you count Patty of course. What would a person such as yourself be doing here?" Dante asked, returning his gaze back to his magazine. The girl blushed, looked down at her feet and began fiddling with the zip on her long white coat. Dante glanced up at her again.

"Something the matter? You're awfully quiet." He said, putting down the magazine and taking a good look at her "Cat got your tongue?"

The girl blushed an even darker red, but looked up at him, although she wouldn't quite look him in the eyes.

"Do...do you fight demons?" She asked hurriedly, as if feeling awkward about the question "I-I just thought, with the name and everything-" She stopped, and began playing with her zip again.

"So what if I do?" Dante asked casually. This made the girl look up quickly, her eyes widening.

"P-please, you have to help me!" She gabbled desperately "Last night me and my fiancee, Skylar, went down to the docks to meet our friend. When we arrived, we found him, and all of the other dock workers...They had been-" She choked as tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped them with her sleeve, and continued,

"We heard a noise from one of the large crates which had just been delivered by the large cargo ships. There was this horrible, screeching noise, and there was blood all around it. Skylar told me to wait while he checked the crate. I heard him scream, and then..." She broke down and began sobbing. Dante stood up, walked over to her, and rested his hand on her shoulder. He softly tilted her head so she was looking at him.

"Do you believe that demons did it?" He asked calmly. She nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Well then, I guess I've got a job to do, haven't I?" Dante asked. He strode over to his desk, grabbed his guns, ebony and ivory, and put them in their holsters. He grabbed his sword, rebellion, from the back of the room, and put it on his back. He turned back to the young woman "You should return home. You needn't worry, I'll have this demon dealt with by teatime" He said, grinning.

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Seras woke suddenly, and started to sit up straight. However, she was in a coffin, and ended up head-butting the lid instead. Her muffled shouts could be heard from outside of the small box. She pushed off the lid, and, after making sure that it was safe, sat up straight. She clambered out awkwardly, and got herself ready for the evening. She pulled on her yellow uniform, which she always found ridiculously impractical, and headed upstairs to find nearest kitchen.

As she walked through the endless corridors, she wondered how long it would take to memorize the layout. She imagined herself stumbling across some lost soldier, who had given up trying to navigate the house, and ended up in some abandoned room somewhere. She shook off the thought, and realized that she had inadvertently wandered into the main hall.

"Ah, Miss Victoria, good evening, I'm glad you're awake," Came a voice. Seras span around and saw Walter walking out of one of the opposite corridors and moving towards her. "Could you spare a moment?" He asked, as he approached her. She nodded quickly,

"Of course I can" She added. Walter smiled, and began leading her by the arm up the stairs.

"Very good. Well, I need your help with something. We're trying to track down a mercenary by the of Dante. We have reason to suspect that he is a vampire. However, I need to gather some information on him. So far all we have is a telephone number. I'm going to try and track his location with the help of some technology." Walter explained. Seras nodded, urging him to continue. "But, in the meantime I need you to try and get some background information on him. Anything will do."

"Don't we usually have people doing this for us?" She asked, feeling rather nervous, "I mean, the round table usually sort this kind of thing out, don't they?"

"Unfortunately, Dante does not live in England. He is in America, as far as we an tell, and therefore the round table don't feel the need to investigate him. Integra, however, believes that he is great enough of a threat to overlook the fact that he is in a different country." Walter answered, opening the door to a large room filled with computers. Walter stepped to the side to let Seras enter. She walked in slowly, and sat down at the nearest computer. Walter followed, and sat at the computer next to her. He began opening programs and typing furiously, while Seras sat dumbstruck. She moved the mouse. The cursor moved on the screen. She clicked on the start button, but turned to face Walter.

"Um, Walter..." Seras started, blushing furiously. Walter looked at her "I, er, don't really know how to use computers."

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Dante arrived at the docks, and immediately smelt blood. He descended a few worn, uneven steps and found himself at the part of the docks where cargo was held. The air was thick with the scent of rotting flesh, and the soup like fog which had formed created a humid blanket which, combined with the unholy stench, was enough to make a man gag. However, Dante, who was used to the smell of his office, was unaffected by the smell, and instead followed the trail of blood which had seeped into the tarmac.

"They never think to cover their tracks, do they?" He grumbled, as he got closer to the source of the scent. He found himself in a clearing, surrounded by the large metal containers which are so often found in docks. Dead bodies were scattered around on the floor, and had several stab wounds. Dante ignored them and began walking over to the large wooden crate which was situated at the other side of the clearing. As Dante approached he could hear a high pitched noise which seemed to cut through the air like a knife, and he knew exactly what he was dealing with.

"Well, if it isn't Mephisto!" He called out, "Won't you come out and play!?" Suddenly, a large black mass seemed to float out of the crate, with a red head. It had a sharp, knife like finger which extended from it's black 'aura'. Dante grinned and jumped into the air, while pulling out ebony and ivory. He shot repeatedly at the mass, which didn't seem affected. As he landed on the ground, he put away ebony and ivory, and instead pulled out a double barreled shot gun. He moved faster than the eye can see into the air, until he was at point blank range to the mephisto, and shot it right in the face. It's black aura disappeared, and it fell to the ground as a spindly, red insect. Dante dropped to the floor, put away the shotgun, then sliced it clean in half with rebellion.

"Well, now that that's over with I can finally get some peace and quiet!" Dante called triumphantly, putting his sword back on his back. He glanced back at the crate, and quickly went over to check that there were no more demons. As he went behind it he saw that the back panel had been ripped off entirely, and that, inside, there was a body inside, with a single wound straight through the heart. Dante checked the man for ID, and found his wallet. His driving license read 'Skylar Arrowsmith'. Dante took the license, and made his way back to Devil May Cry.


	3. Lurking Darkness

The Battle Of Two Hunters:

Chapter 3

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Integra sat alone in her office, resting her chin on her hand, and her elbow on her large, wooden desk. She let out a sigh, and with her spare hand pulled a large file towards her. After skim reading the first few paragraphs by the light of her desk lamp, she half heartedly tossed it back to the other side of the desk.

"Well, despite the lack of intel, what do you make of him?" Integra spoke out into the lurking shadows. The shadows themselves seemed to bulge and swell, as if in response to her question, and a tall dark figure appeared in the darkest corner of the room.

"What do I make of him?" Said the figure, his deep, velvety voice echoing throughout the room. "Well, a vampire who is rumored to be equal in power if not greater than me? Hmm, sounds like fun..." His low pitched laugh floated through the air, causing the hairs on the back of Integra's neck to stick up. It amazed her how he could still creep her out, despite having known him since her childhood.

"Oh? Something the matter Integra?" He taunted, looking over his thick, red tinted glasses, and grinning, causing the dim light to reflect off of his elongated canines. "Surely you're not scared of me?" Integra sighed, and pushed her spectacles further up her nose. His mind reading was certainly a problem. He chuckled again, and with a swish of his red coat he walked through the wall and out of the room.

As he entered the hallway, he could hear Walter's voice from a nearby room, and he sounded rather agitated.

"No, no, Miss Victoria, that's the wrong butto- STOP, PLEASE...! I'm sorry, but please, I'll have someone else see to it."

Seras quickly rushed out of the doorway, looking very flustered, as well as embarrassed. As she glanced up she saw Alucard looking at her with a slightly amused look on his face.

"M-master-" She started, only to be interrupted by Alucard walking straight past her and into the computer room. He chuckled as he saw the vast amount of error messages which were continually popping up on one of the computers.

"Good evening Alucard." Walter hurriedly gabbled, as he grabbed a handful of wires and tore them out of the overheating machine. The screen soon flicked black, Walter let out a sigh of relief, and slumped into the nearest chair.

"Um, sorry..." Seras mumbled from the corridor, seeming far too worried that she could break something to venture back into the room.

"No, no, there's no need to apologize, but please don't do that again, the results could have been much, much worse, if I hadn't disconnected computer sooner." Walter replied, wiping his forehead.

"Hmph, I never understand the human obsession with computers," Interrupted Alucard "What is the worst that she could have done? It's only a machine." He scoffed. Walter simply raised and eyebrow.

"Well, machine or not, today's society is extremely dependent on these things, and more importantly, the high speed, communication networks which allow such rapid information retrieval. Seras inadvertently went onto a virus-riddled website which would've obliterated the entire Hellsing network. It could've been disastrous." Walter explained, picking up the now useless computer, and shoving it into the large bin next to the door. Seras stared at her shoes and mumbled yet another apology, her pale cheeks glowing red.

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Just as Dante approached his office that evening, after spending a few extra hours at the bar, he felt a tremendous wave of pain convulse through his body, sending him sprawling onto the floor, as thick, glistening drops of cold sweat appeared on his skin. Once he came to his senses, he looked up and saw a dark figure leaving his shop, and it appeared to be carrying something, or someone, under it's arm.

"Hmph, even the disgraceful half-breed son of the traitorous Sparda is no match for my 'gift'." Came an extremely nasal and stuck up sounding female voice from the figure. Dante stood up shakily, and as his eyes focused he took in the full force of the appearance of the woman stood in front of him.

She was wearing an extremely frilly, gaudy and quite revealing, sleeveless victorian styled dress. It was made from a deep red satin, with a white cotton trim. The woman herself had long, deep brown frizzy hair, which finished at her waist. As for her face, she had piercing bright pink eyes, a shallow nose, and thin, pale lips. And under her arm she was carrying the girl who had arrived at Devil May Cry that day.

"That's no way to introduce yourself, you only get one chance of a first impression after all." He remarked, as he rubbed his throbbing temples with his right hand index finger. "Didn't your parents teach you any manners?"

"Ha! As if you can talk of parents, half breed scum!" She sneered, looking down at him. Dante shook his head.

"Yeah, well, at least I have manners. Can't blame a kid for their parent's mistakes, y'know?" He averted his gaze to the unconscious girl. "What do you want with her?" He asked, taking a step closer to the woman. The woman threw her head back and laughed a high pitched cackle which seemed to cut through cold air like a knife.

"You mean, you have no idea of who this girl is?!" She asked, astonished, after she had finished laughing. "This girl is Lethys! The last elf in existence! Have you any idea of the power she possesses?!" She shrieked, moving in closer to Dante, her face inches from him, an insane grin spread across her face, showing rows and rows of sharp teeth. Dante wrinkled his nose in disgust and moved a few paces away from her. He shrugged nonchalantly and put his hands into the pockets of his leather coat.

"Sorry, if it's not in magazines, I don't know. But," He looked at the girl again, remembering how skittish she had been when entering the shop. "I think you've got the wrong girl, I doubt she's capable of much, she seemed far too...fragile." He said, turning to look at the woman again. The woman simply let out another cackle, and the grin on her face spread even wider.

"You don't know anything, do you?!" She laughed. "This girl doesn't-"

"Allegra!" Came a stern male voice from the rooftops above them, cutting her off. "Stop gabbling and bring the girl. If you tell our enemy our plan, it will fail." Dante looked up at where the voice was coming from. A silhouetted male figure could be seen, but Dante couldn't make out the face. He pulled out ebony and ivory and aimed them at the man, however, he seemed to disappear in a 'poof of smoke' and all that could be seen where he stood was a fine black mist.

"Damn him, always acting like he's the smart one." Allegra complained to herself. She jumped with ease onto the roof where the figure had stood, and cackled one more triumphant laugh, before jumping off and disappearing into the night.

"God, she can't half make a noise..." Dante complained. He frowned in annoyance, as he realized that they still had the girl, Lethys, with them. He put ebony and ivory back in their holsters, and walked into his office.

After tossing a few of the empty pizza boxes onto the old wooden floor, he reached for his phone and dialed a number.

"Hey Morrison, sorry for calling so late," Dante began. "I need you to do some detective work for me...Fine, I'll take any jobs you want for a month, just do it, okay?"

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Reviews please!

Oh, and thanks to those who have already ^^


	4. Illuminated Path

The Battle Of Two Hunters:

Chapter 4

:)

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"Sir Integra! We have finally got hold of some more information about Dante!" Walter shouted, as he ran towards Integra, who had been taking her daily stroll around the Hellsing Estate. Integra stopped walking, turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" Integra began, "It's taken you two weeks, and that's with the aid of me pulling strings to get more men assigned to the case. This had better be good Walter." She warned. Walter merely chuckled.

"I guarantee you'll be pleased, Ma'am." He said, bowing humbly. He handed her a quite recent newspaper, and she began to read;

'_His Holiness Killed On Day Of Festival:_

_Red coated assassin brings chaos to peaceful Fortuna._

_For many years our great town Fortuna's 'Order of the Sword', have celebrated the 'Festival Of The Sword' as a way of honoring Sparda, our lord from decades long since passed, who protected us from the endless threat of demonic uproar._

_However, this year our sacred festival was thrown into chaos when an unnamed assassin gatecrashed the ceremony, proceeded to shoot His Holiness at point blank range, and then resisted arrest, resulting in around 15 brave soldiers falling in the line of duty._

_Witness reports state that he had white/silver hair, wore a long red leather coat, was armed with a large sword or claymore, and possible carried firearms. Soon after the tragedy, mass reports of demon attacks came flooding in, and the town was overrun by 'scarecrow' demons. A death toll has not been confirmed, however we have reports of at least 50 injured citizens, and 20 missing persons._

_After interviewing the Supreme General of the Holy Knights, Credo, we can establish that a high ranking soldier has been ordered to pursue this assassin, and that his capture is inevitable. The soldier in question, who goes by the name of Nero, is the only one, excluding General Credo, who survived the massacre of soldiers that day, and is regarded as the Order's finest warrior, and we are assured that the assassin's apprehension will be first on the Order's list of priorities...'_

Integra tore her eyes away, uninterested in the history of the Order, or who 'His Holiness' actually was.

"So, you believe the assassin to be Dante?" She asked, handing the paper back to Walter. He nodded and accepted the newspaper.

"Yes ma'am. The witness reports match the description we were given." Walter beamed. Integra sighed.

"I understand your enthusiasm, after all, you've been working none stop for the last two weeks, however I am forced to admit that this doesn't confirm his vampirism, and we don't know if this is actually Dante... Although, something did catch my eye," Integra said, snatching the paper back from him. She pointed at one line on the page,

"Here, see? 'Scarecrow demons'. What on earth-"

"Ah, we believe those are a species of demon, possibly only found in that region, although we doubt they're particularly powerful." Walter interrupted, "And as for confirming whether it was Dante who killed the head of this 'cult' as it were, we are currently trying to get in touch with the soldier named Nero, who is much easier to get information on than Dante. He was an orphan, but is believe to be a descendant of 'Sparda', the feudal lord of that town a long time ago. But, once again, getting information on Sparda is nigh on the impossible. All we can confirm is what is in that newspaper."

"Sparda? Well, from what it says here; 'protected us from the endless threat of demonic uproar', this 'Sparda' must be quite the warrior. I guess that's why they seem to be parading Nero around as such a great soldier." She said with a sigh, reminded of her own heritage.

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"Dante? Dante, you here?" Said Dante's agent, Morrison, as he stepped into the dim office. He squinted as he tried to adjust his eyes to the dull light, and snapped his eyes to the left as the bathroom door opened. Dante walked out topless, with a towel flung over his shoulder, and strolled over to his desk, fumbling around the ever growing mountain of pizza boxes for a slice of his favourite nosh. After about 30 seconds of rooting around the debris on his desk, and Morrison gawking at him in confusion, Dante gave up, and in one sweeping blow knocked all of the pizza boxes towards the left wall, the boxes stacking up perfectly as they hit the aged, wooden flooring.

"Yeah I'm here..." Dante answered, collapsing into his chair, and slamming his feet onto the desk. "Any news?"

"Nope, it seems these kidnappers, demons, whatever the hell they are, are very good at hiding themselves." Morrison sighed, sitting down on the old leather sofa underneath the stairs, leading his cross arms on his knees and slouching forward. Dante frowned.

"Then what the hell was the point of coming here?" He asked through gritted teeth, his voice strained, as he, unsuccessfully, tried to hold in his anger.

"Don't get mad at me Dante, you still owe me big time. I'm pulling a lot of strings trying to get this information for you, and you had better remember who gets you jobs around here." Morrison warned, his moustache twitching. Dante replied with a sigh, and began tracing the contours of his silver belt buckle with his index finger.

It had been two weeks since the girl, Lethys, had been kidnapped, and no one had seen sight of her. No demands had been made, and no trail had been found.

"Why do you care so much anyway, Dante?" Morrison asked, narrowing his eyes slightly. Dante stood up, his shoulders tightening and fist clenching up.

"Well, she was kidnapped because of two things. One, she's not human. Two, the kidnappers seem to have some beef with her parents and ancestors. Let's just say I can relate to that. Not only that, but..." Dante relaxed his hand and loosened his shoulders, but carried on speaking at an almost inaudible volume, "She doesn't look like she could protect herself, and because of that someone close to her died. Nothing is more heartbreaking than that."

Morrison shook his head.

"You mind speakin' up a tad? Didn't catch that last bit." He asked. Dante shrugged.

"It's not important." He pointed upstairs. "I'm gonna go get my shirt, but I'll be back before you know it, so don't ransack this place, you won't find any money...Well, not unless there's some in the sofa." Dante grunted, and with that he walked up the stairs.

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Alucard walked at an almost frightening pace down the narrow country lane, with Seras trotting quickly behind him. The moonlight was glinting off his red glasses, giving them a yellow sheen. He stopped statue still and glanced up at the full moon, as he so often did. Seras, however, was unprepared for the sudden halt, and after just managing to avoid accidentally running headlong into her Master, she fell into a ditch in the road. Alucard chuckled, and looked down at her.

"You've been getting extremely clumsy lately, police girl. Hitting your head on the lid of your coffin, destroying computers and falling into potholes. It's not like you." He smirked. Seras hurriedly stood up, brushed herself down, and made sure her rifle was still on her back, and not half destroyed.

"And now you've left your wonderful harkonen at the mansion. Don't tell me your memory is going too? Deary me police girl, you'll be needing a wheelchair soon." He taunted. Seras glowered at him from under her thick, blond fringe, her cheeks burning red, and began storming down the road. Alucard simply laughed, and began leisurely sauntering down the road as well, his long strides allowing him to catch up to and subsequently over take her. Seras raised her shoulders, and increased her pace to more of a power walk, her arms held stiff by her sides. She caught up to him, and began grinning smugly. Alucard stopped dead still again, and Seras, surprised by his actions, fell into yet another pothole with a yelp.

"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DAMN DITCHES IN THIS ROAD!?" She bellowed, panting heavily in annoyance. She clambered up off the floor, brushed herself off once more, and checked her rifle. Alucard began walking again, but rather than continue to torment his fledgling, he put on a more stern voice.

"Police girl, we're getting closer to the village. Now, don't forget that there is more than one vampire, so don't get complacent." He reminded her. She instinctively checked her pouch for another rifle clip, and then proceeded to check her rifle one more time. She felt the heat dissipate from her cheeks, and her temper cool. Instead, the nausea and anxiousness of a new mission engulfed her entire body, which was a familiar feeling she got so often in her line of work.

"Oh, and Seras," Alucard started, turning to look directly at her, his voice more serious than ever. Seras felt a knot form in her stomach, scared of what he was about to say. She nodded to show she was listening, and he leaned in, any emotion leaving his features.

"Don't fall over. It's embarrassing."

While a smirk appeared on Alucard's face, Seras felt like screaming. She began muttering indistinguishable words angrily under her breath, and stormed off down the road again. Alucard watched her tramp off over the top of his glasses. Getting her wound up before missions was the only way to get her to her full potential. For a vampire she was pitifully sympathetic, a trait that he had let go of a long time ago. He looked into the forest which flanked the road which they had been walking down, and sensed something with an animal like hunger prowling around. Grinning, he strode into the dark forest...

As Seras approached the isolated village which had apparently been overrun and dominated by vampires and ghouls only a few hours ago, she felt the stench of rotting flesh hit her nostrils, and as usual felt herself almost keeling over and looking for the nearest toilet. In an attempt to ignore the smell, she focused on looking for the vampires in question. She took her rifle off her back, and cleared her head of any unnecessary thoughts. As she systematically began searching each house, she noticed that there were extremely few ghouls, in fact, she hadn't even come across any. The houses themselves were all thatch-roofed, old fashioned bungalows, with few rooms, which certainly cut down on the amount of time she had to spend searching each cottage. The majority of them were furnished the same, with old, floral patterned furniture, wood fires, and more ornaments than it seemed possible to collect. The wallpaper in most was peeling and discoloured, and old, ill-fitting wooden floorboards were present in each and every house.

'Something's not right,' She thought, after leaving the last of the cottages, once again finding nothing. 'There's no ghouls, and the vampires haven't shown themselves. What's going on?!'

'You're right to be suspicious.' Alucard's voice echoed in Seras's head. 'But keep looking, I'm sure you'll find the outcome quite interesting.'

"You mean, you know what's going on?" Seras asked out loud, a habit which she had never broken out of. The words telepathy didn't really register to her at times like these.

'Yes. But I don't want to ruin the surprise.' He chuckled. Seras sighed. Apparently telling her what was going on was too much trouble. She shook her head, then set off in the direction of the post office, which was in the centre of the tiny village.

While she pushed on the worn post office door, flecks of the old red paint crumbled off and landed on the floor, drawing her attention to the doorstep of the post office, or rather, what was written in blood on the doorstep. A question mark had been scrawled on. Seras looked at the question mark in confusion.

'What the...? Why did they do that?" She pondered. In a sudden flash of inspiration, she glanced over at the doorstep of the house opposite, and noticed that, it too, had been written on. This time it was a letter. The letter 'W'. Seras frowned in irritation. Deciphering puzzles was never something she liked to do, but nonetheless she checked every doorstep of the 18 houses in the village. Each one had a letter written down on them. She managed to find a pen and scrap of paper in one of the abandoned bungalows, and wrote down the letters of the 18 houses, as well as the question mark from the post office.

_h s e i w a t t m h e t m w r f l o r ?_

She walked back to the centre of the village, and sat down on the post office doorstep, trying to contemplate on what the letters spelt out. She admitted to herself that she wasn't the kind of person who could figure out puzzles at the drop of a hat, but even so she thought long and hard about what it meant. For 15 minutes she stared at the little sheet of paper, hoping for the solution to jump out at her, but to no avail. She crammed the paper into her pocket, stood up and stretched. She got a glimpse of her watch as she did so, and realized that it was now 2:30 am, and that she'd been there over 2 hours. She groaned, and slumped back down on the floor, leaning back and resting her head on the post office door. As she looked up, she noticed that there was a black plaque on the door with faded gold lettering which had number 19 written on it. She thought nothing of it, and closed her eyes, returning her mind to the matter of the 18 letters and the question mark, which she couldn't decipher.

18 letters

...

Then a question mark.

18 houses

...

Then a post office.

Her eyes snapped open in the sudden realization. The letters must have been put in order of the door numbers! She did another quick lap of the village, writing the letters down in order of house number, and gasped as she read out what it spelt out;

_"What's the time Mr Wolf?"_ She breathed, the ominous phrase sending shivers up her spine. She glanced upwards, and realized that the full moon hung forebodingly in the clear night sky.

"A werewolf?" She asked the darkness. The darkness seemed to respond with a chuckle.

"Very good." Came Alucard's voice from right behind her. Seras screamed from shock, and span around, causing herself to trip up for the third time that night. She didn't bother to get up off the floor, since her daily embarrassment quota had already been over satisfied. Alucard smirked, and crouched down to meet her gaze.

"I've already killed the werewolf." He stated bluntly, still grinning like the maniac that he was. "I just thought it would be interesting to see how good you are at riddles. It's a good thing you were so preoccupied with looking at furniture." He began. Seras's eyes widened.

"You mean you wrote those letters?!" She shouted hysterically. Alucard nodded. Seras screamed angrily, then stood up and clenched her fists.

"It took you over two hours. How disappointing, I was hoping for a little more intuition." Alucard taunted, standing up as well. Seras's right eye began twitching.

"Let's just go." She said, scowling, and she walked past him and back onto the country lane.

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A/N:

Ahaha, I had so much fun writing this chapter ^^ Especially the riddle =D

Who figured it out before you read the answer? Be honest XD

Gawd, I've wrote loads! Well, for me at least :]

I spent at least 2 hours on this, har har har

...

*dies*

I need sleep XD

Well, rates, comments, criticism, etc. is loved! So, please do!


	5. The Chase Begins

Me:

Gawd, I'm getting sick of writing this chapter XD

You:

What the hell are you talking about? :O

Me: Well, let me explain:

*happy piano music starts playing in background*

I was happily typing up this chapter, and was about halfway through, when...

*sudden cheesy organ music plays*

DISASTER STRIKES!

My Dad decided to shut off all the electricity in the house ¬¬

So I ended up punching the wall and /really/ hurting my knuckles XD

So, after about 30 minutes of swearing, the power came back on and I was (not so) happily typing away and...

He turns the power off. AGAIN.

I ended up punching the wall another 3 times, and throwing my chair at my bedside table (my mac is in my room.)

I COULD KILL! :I

*end of music*

You:

Er...Right...You have fun with that now ^^'

Me:

*triumphant look*

Well then, apologies for the wait, but here it is, chapter 5, enjoy :]

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Nero blearily opened his eyes, but hastily shut them as the blinding sunlight burst through the cracks in his blinds. He let out a groan, and rolled over sleepily. He opened his eyes for a second time, without the harsh glare of the sun scorching his eyes, and began looking at the woman asleep next to him.

"Kyrie..." He whispered, as he watched her breathing. He loved how angelically peaceful she looked when she was sleeping, and it was such a sharp contrast to the look of pure terror she had given him 8 months ago, when he had been stood over her injured brother, his demonic arm in full view. He glanced at it instinctively. Granted, it was indispensable in fighting demons, but the fuss he got because of it...Well, it didn't matter anymore. Kyrie accepted him, and he no longer had to work for the Order. He had a nice, small apartment on the outskirts of Fortuna, his own demon hunting business, and Kyrie had a job in a popular restaurant. Things couldn't go wrong.

*ring* *ring* *ring*

Nero flinched at the sudden shock of the phone ringing, but clambered out of bed all the same. Stumbling groggily from the bedroom to the kitchen/living room, he picked up the handset from off the coffee table in the center of small room, and then sat on the arm of the couch.

"Hello? This is Nero, you got a job for me?" He asked the person on the other end of the phone.

"Is this the Nero who is in the Order Of The Sword. The Nero who is descended from Sparda?" Came the posh english voice from the other end. Nero's eyes narrowed.

"What if it is?" He asked cautiously.

"My name is Sir Integra Hellsing. I would like to ask you a few questions about the assassin you pursued 8 months ago." Integra explained.

"Assassin? Oh, you mean the man who killed His Hol- I mean, Sanctus." Nero said, correcting himself. "Alright, go ahead, ask whatever you want." At that moment Kyrie entered the room, still dressed in her nightgown.

"Good morning Nero." Kyrie said softly, stepping into the kitchenette, and beginning to cook breakfast. Nero nodded an acknowledgment, and watched her begin to start frying some eggs.

"Well, first of all, the assassin, was he called Dante?" She asked bluntly, interrupting Nero's daydream-like gaze at Kyrie. Nero became irritated at the sudden snap back to reality.

"Yeah, he's called Dante." Nero said, the anger present in his voice. Integra picked up on his irritation, and instead began speaking with a slightly less harsh tone.

"Thank you, so, did you manage to arrest him?" Integra asked, a bit less forceful this time. Nero loosened up a bit.

"There was no point by the end of it." Nero replied, leaning backwards so he collapsed onto the couch. "Anyway," Nero said, breaking away from the topic, "Why do you want to know about all of this? Why not just call up the man himself?" He asked suspiciously. Integra let out an agitated sigh.

"I'm the one asking questions." She emphasized, the forceful tone back in her voice. Nero narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, well I'm the one answering. What did he do to piss you off?" He asked, getting aggravated at the bossy woman on the other end of the phone. Integra frowned at his language, and tightened her grip on the phone. She sighed, and leaned back in her chair.

"Nothing in particular, per se... All we're trying to do is determine whether he is human or not... Tell me that and I'll leave you alone." Integra requested. Nero chuckled and swung his legs over the side of the sofa, and sat upright.

"Ahahaha," He laughed, "It wouldn't take a genius to figure it out! I've never met a human who was anyway as crazy, suicidal and blood thirsty all at the same time! Trust me, that guy isn't human. Not in the slightest. I stabbed him in the heart and he barely noticed it!" Nero said, the admiration and awe apparent in his voice. Integra frowned in disapproval of his respect for Dante, however she couldn't help but feel a wave of relief that the rumor had finally been confirmed.

"Thank you, Nero, that is all I wanted. You have been a great help. Goodbye." Integra finished, hanging up the phone abruptly. She glanced at the vampire stood in front of her, his normally red eyes glowing with blood lust, and felt her flesh creep.

"Integra." He began, his usually velvety voice now with a undertone of hunger, "Tell me what to do." He requested, putting both hands on the desk and leaning against them. "Whatever your orders, I will carry out with no hesitation. I would reduce this world to nothing more than fire, death and destruction, if you ordered me to." He growled, his eyes flashing a brighter red. "Women, children, innocents, I would slaughter them all, just for you. If that is what you wished." Integra curled her nose in disgust, and slid back further into her chair.

"I would never wish that, you disgusting monster." She retorted. Alucard simply grinned, and leaned in so his nose was millimeters away from hers.

"Yes, I'm a disgusting vampire. A monster. No...Your monster." He said, his pupils now little more than slits. Integra's temper flared.

"Just get out of my sight!" She shouted, shooting out of her chair and slamming her own palms onto the desk, her teeth bared. Alucard raised an eyebrow and stood up, his grin more thirsty than ever.

"As you wish, my master..." He muttered as he disappeared into the lurking shadows. Integra stood breathing heavily for a while, as she got over her rage. She punched her desk in frustration and slumped back into her chair, a frozen trickle of sweat trickling down her cheek.

"God damn him..." She mumbled, as she let out a sigh.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Dante?!" The high pitched voice screeched into Dante's unsuspecting ears. He tried to brush away the source of the noise, and return to his half conscious daze, with little success.

"H-hey! Don't hit me in the face, you stupid jerk!" The voice shouted. Dante peeked out from under the magazine which was resting on his face, only to see a very angry little girl sporting one of the most frilly dresses Dante had ever laid eyes on. She had curly blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles. And a very annoyed expression.

"Leave me alone Patty, I don't need this right now." Dante complained, peeling the magazine off his face. Patty exhaled in exasperation.

"God, you're always the same, you never change, you complete slob." She complained, looking at the mountains of pizza boxes scattered around Dante's office. Dante shrugged.

"I never asked you to come here and clean. You bring it on yourself...Oh, hey Lady." Dante added, as he noticed Lady stood just behind Patty, who looked lost in thought. She snapped to attention with the mention of her name and sighed.

"Good morning Dante." Lady replied, giving Patty an endearing look. "Patty invited me along to your place, I hope you don't mind." She said sarcastically, sitting on the side of Dante's desk. Dante shrugged.

"That's fine with me, but you know I'm outta cash, your trip here was pretty much wasted." He replied. Lady chuckled.

"Actually, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about... It's about that English woman from a few weeks ago." Lady explained. "Jobs in other countries often pay out more, so I wondered if you've been in touch with her since then." Patty, who had already started cleaning, looked up from her work, her eyes sparkling.

"England! You got offered a job in England, Dante?!" She exclaimed. Her eyes soon turned to anger and she threw the cloth she was holding at Dante's face. "Why the hell didn't you take it you idiot, you might've got to meet the the Queen, you half wit!"

"H-hey! Don't throw things at me!" Dante shouted, pulling the cloth off of his now moist face, and throwing it on the floor. Lady chuckled.

"Now Patty, while I don't mind you throwing things at Dante, I don't think that he would've been able to meet the Queen, even if he wanted to. But, I would like to know who this client is. Did you get a number, name or address?" She asked. "Anything?!" She added as she saw Dante's blank look.

"Of course not, if it don't interest me, I'm not gunna find out more about it." He replied, picking up the magazine. Lady frowned, picked up the cloth and gave it back to Patty.

"Feel free to throw that at him again Patty." She urged. As Patty got ready to throw, the front door of the office opened. Patty and Lady turned around, while Dante simply buried himself in the magazine. Morrison stepped in with a triumphant look on his face.

"Dante, I got some info on the girl's whereabouts!" He announced as he made his way into the dingy room. Dante threw down the magazine and stood up.

"Where?" He asked. Morrison grinned.

"Right under our very noses. You know the new warehouses they're building on the edge of town? Well, one of them is supposedly built upon the ruins of an old castle. The castle itself is long gone, but apparently the dungeon is still there, for those who can find the entrance. A lot of suspicious characters matching the descriptions of the two people you mentioned have been seen around that area as of late, and when police investigated it, all the officers involved were badly injured. I think we may have hit the jackpot." Morrison revealed, a proud smirk plastered on his face.

"Sounds like it's riddled with cliche." Dante sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Well, it's nothing concrete, but I might as well check it out. It's not like I've got anything better to do." He complained, causing Lady to raise an eyebrow and turn to him.

"Oh, is this the elf girl you've had Morrison search for?" She asked, intrigued. Dante nodded a reply. "Well, if you're going, I'm coming too. There's not been much going on as of late, and I fancy a challenge." She said, inviting herself. Patty stood with a confused look on her face.

"But, wait, neither of you will get paid for this so..." She began, not wanting to continue for fear of looking stupid. Dante smiled looked at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "I don't care where I go or whether I get paid or not for it, so long as it means I don't have to listen to your nagging." He taunted. Patty screeched and kicked him right in the shin.

"DAMN YOU, YOU STUPID JERK!"

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Okay, after this the pace picks up people ^^

Promise :]

I know it's been pretty slow up to this point, but now the pieces are set and game is ready to go! (Lawl, that was as cheesy as stilton XD)

Anyway, sorry for the delay, I had about 4 tests in a row the past week DX Stupid year 10 exams *cries*

But, whatever, you know you love me really, right?

And please rate! Or comment or critic or whatever the hell you wanna call it ^^

Ah, and I'll have to beef up the rating from now on I think...Just to be safe :]


	6. The Rescue

Just so you know, this chapter is **really** long.

Like, 7000 words :O

I just couldn't stop writing XD

Anyway, please enjoy

AND PLEASE REVIEW!

just a few words, you don't even have to write loads, just a little bit of feedback so I know how Imma doin' :]

So, chatper 6, here it is:

--------------

"Dante? You in here?" Spoke a female voice from the outside of Dante's room. Dante glanced up, and saw Trish leaning around the door, her face lit up with intrigue. Dante sat up on his bed, crossing his legs as he did so. He peered at her through his untamable white hair, which had decided to morph into a tangled mess right in front of his face. He tried to brush it back casually, but his fingers got stuck, and he yanked his hand away, resting it on his lap again.

"Yeah, I'm here..." He grumbled in annoyance. Trish laughed inwardly at his half assed attempt to act cool, and walked into the room. She walked over to Dante's bed, and sat down opposite to him. She reached out to his hair, and began gently untangling the white haystack which impaired his vision.

"Wow Trish, you're in my bedroom. It's been a while." Dante said, his eyes crinkling at his own joke, despite the clear loneliness in his voice. She frowned, and let go of the lock of hair she was working on.

"And to think, you've been in here all on your own for all that time," She retorted, the frown becoming a smug smile. She reached for his hair again and continued to gingerly unknot it. Dante looked down, and realized that he was only wearing his red boxers. Trish followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"In fact," She continued "what were you doing in here on your own?" looking back up at him, crinkling her nose. He rolled his eyes.

"I was hoping to catch a few z's, until you waltzed in" Dante explained, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

"I see..." She replied carelessly. They sat there in silence as Trish continued to pluck calmly at his hair. When she had finished, she stood up and stretched her arms out in front of her.

"Well, did you just come down here to grope my head, or was there a point to all of this?" Dante asked, looking up at her. She returned to a normal pose, her weight rested on her right hip and looked at him with a playful smile on her lips.

"Well, Lady mentioned that, as soon as Morrison calls you back with the a-okay, you'll be storming the place where that girl is being held captive. I was hoping I could come too." She asked. Dante grunted, and the corner of his mouth curved into a cheeky grin.

"Sure, why not. It'll be good to have you there." He said, his eyes shining. He then gestured for her to move out of the way, and heaved himself off the bed. He walked past her to the end of his bed and grabbed his clothes. Trish tilted her head, watching calmly as he zipped the shirt over his well toned chest, pulled his chaps on, and did up the large belt buckle.

"Coat's downstairs." He grunted. She nodded, and followed him out of the room and down the old steps. Lady was sat on his desk, gazing around the room with a look of disgust, obviously revolted with the state of it. She was wearing her cream shorts and jacket, with the buckle across her chest. As she heard the two clomping down the metal stairs, she looked up and greeted them with a smile.

"Good afternoon." She greeted, with a slight wave of her gloved hand. Dante muttered a hello, and Trish gave her a nod.

"So, the three of us are going in then?" Lady asked, her eyes lighting up. Although she'd never admit it, whenever they worked as a team, it always made her feel, well, like she had a family again. Well, Trish did at least. Like a favourite cousin or something. Dante was just the next door neighbour's son who acted like a pig. Who eats that much pizza anyway?! She smiled and gave a sigh. What Trish ever saw in him she'd never understand... Well, okay, so he was quite handsome, and muscular, and could be quite sincere sometimes. And his hair was pretty awesome. And he never made fun of her eyes, which was quite a nice surprise. But overall, he's a jerk!

By this time, Trish and Dante were already in front of her. Dante was looking around for his coat, and Trish was smiling, her sharp eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, it'll be the three of us. Ought to be fun, right?" She teased, touching one of the guns on her belt. Lady smiled.

"Of course! And with any luck, that girl will pay us for our services." She joked half heartedly. Dante turned around, suddenly glaring.

"She's probably terrified right now. Her fiancé's been murdered, and now she's been kidnapped by a bunch of hellish monsters." He snapped, uncharacteristically "Leave the joking until after we know she's alive". Trish and Lady looked at him in disbelief. He looked away sheepishly, sighed and loosened his shoulders.

"Sorry." He said bluntly, a guilty look smeared over his features. Lady and Trish exchanged confused glances, then Lady shook her head.

"No, don't apologize, there's no need." Lady replied. Just then, the phone began ringing. Dante picked it up, listened for a few moments, muttered a thanks, hung up, and turned, a huge grin spread on his face, towards the two women.

"Morrison says he's talked to the construction workers, we've got the rest of today to clear that place out." He announced. Lady hopped up off the desk, brushed herself down, and grabbed the Kalina Ann from the back of the room, clipping it to her back. Trish seemed ecstatic with the news, so much so that her body seemed to give out the raw power of lightning. Dante picked his coat up from the corner of the room, where he realized he had left it last night after getting drunk and passing out, and quickly put it on. He grabbed ebony and ivory, his two standard guns, and rebellion, his sword.

"What else should I bring with me?" He asked temptingly to the women who were both looking at him in anticipation.

"What about..." Said Trish.

"Maybe..." Said Lady.

"Cerberus?" they both chimed, looking at each other in delight. Dante's grin grew, and he dashed into his room, reemerging moments later with his frozen weapon, made from 3 interlocking clumps of demonic ice, held together by chains and a heavy iron loop. He quickly descended the steps and coaxed the other two over to him, by the door.

"Come on girls, it's time to rock!" He called triumphantly.

*********************

Alucard strolled casually into the open plan foyer, and made his way towards the check-in desk at the back of the room, situated in between two curved stairways. A small, blonde woman stood at the desk, in the middle of a phone conversation. Seeing his arrival, she quickly gabbled a goodbye down the phone, and hung up.

"Good afternoon, sir. Welcome to the Grandeur Hotel. Do you have a reservation?" She asked automatically as he stopped in front of the rectangular, chestnut desk.

"I believe so..." Alucard replied, taking in his surroundings. The hotel was spacious, with lots of calm beige tones, and chestnut flooring. There were several armchairs, couches and coffee tables near the large glass doors on the opposite side of the room, where a few businessmen were sat, reading newspapers or drinking cups of coffee. On the left of these was a small bar, and on the right was some double glass doors, which led to the leisure facilities of the hotel. Alucard turned back around to the woman, and continued.

"My reservation is under the name 'Mr. Trenton'." He said bluntly. The clerk nodded, and typed it into the computer. After giving a little nod, she reached under the desk for the key, and handed it him.

"Here you are, the key to the penthouse. Please enjoy your stay." She said nervously, intimidated by the man. He nodded, and sauntered up the stairs and into the elevator, pressing the button to the top floor.

As the elevator travelled upwards, Alucard couldn't help but grin. 'Finally' He thought, 'Something powerful...Something equal to me, something giving my slavery a point-' His thoughts were interrupted as the elevator stopped, and the doors slid open. Alucard stepped out, and walked into the penthouse. The wall opposite him was made entire out of glass, giving a stunning view of the city below, despite the heavy clouds marring the sky. A large cream curtain framed each end, and there was a glass door cleverly concealed, giving way to a large balcony. The room itself had similar decor to the lobby, open plan and modern. The kitchen and living room only separated by the chestnut counters which bordered the kitchenette. The living room had thick beige carpet, squishy brown sofas, and a large blue tinted glass coffee table, and flat screen TV was mounted to the wall, reigning over the living room area in a formidable fashion. There were two doors on the right side of the room, just past the kitchen, which presumably led to the bedrooms, while one door on the left led to the bathroom. Alucard wondered over to the bedroom door closest to the back wall, if it could still be called a wall, and walked in. Just as he had requested, Seras's occupied coffin lay on the floor next to the double bed, and Alucard let a chuckle escape his lips. She was a fool, denying herself the power which she so clearly deserved. He shook his head, and returned to the living room. He walked over to the coffee table, and picked up the wireless phone which was resting precariously over the edge of the table. He dialed a number, and held it to his ear.

"Integra," He said as the person on the other end picked up, "We've arrived."

"Good." Integra answered bluntly. "Once the sun sets, a car will come for you and Seras. We traced his phone number, so the car will take you to his office. Once there, confirm his vampirism first." She emphasized, not wanting America to declare war on her for killing someone needlessly. "Once you confirm that, dispose of him. And for God's sake try to be quiet about it. We're not meant to be over there, if the round table catch wind of this, I'll never hear the end of it." She sighed with exasperation, and asked Alucard if he understood.

"Yes master," He replied, with a small smile spreading across his face, "Although, I don't understand why you're so scared of a few pathetic old men." He chuckled, leaning back in the squishy sofa, which threatened to swallow him up. Integra laughed weakly, and replied;

"Well, they're the ones signing the cheques, can you really blame me?" Alucard shook his head, his smile fading.

"Humph, I suppose not." He grunted, then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, a grin reappearing, "Although, money isn't everything. Money may grant you a certain amount of power, but there is so much more you can obtain by-"

"Well then, I'll speak to you later, Alucard." Integra interrupted "Goodbye." And she hung up. Alucard scowled at the phone, and placed it down gently on the coffee table. 'I've got a few hours to kill,' He thought casually, 'I think I may go out for a while' And with that, he stood up, walked out of the room, into the elevator, and pressed the button for the ground floor.

---------------

The three devil hunters arrived at the construction yard. The desolate, abandoned construction yard, which was scattered with the titanium skeletons of soon to be factories. The hard, dirt ground echoed with every step, as if alerting anyone to an intruder. The dark grey sky seemed endless, bland, and overly ominous.

"This place is like a graveyard." Lady commented, looking around curiously.

"Christ, what's wrong with picking a more... Homey place to set up an evil base?" Dante complained. "It's always a dungeon, or a castle, or some sort of abandoned old building." He groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"And don't forget," Trish cut in, "There are always the doors which are impossible to open without some magical item, which will probably kill you anyway." She shook her head. The other two nodded in agreement.

"You'd think they don't want us to kill them." Lady grumbled. Dante chuckled.

"I wouldn't want you killing me," He explained "And anyone who is your enemy has my sympathy." He grinned, and as he shook his head Trish gave a giggle in agreement, and began stalking off towards one of the warehouse skeletons.

The other two spread out, and the three of them began scanning for anything which looked suspicious. After about 15 minutes, Dante moved to the middle of the site, and lay down.

"Forget it." He called out. "There's nothing here." Trish tilted her head and frowned.

"It's only been 15 minutes, don't tell me you're giving up now?" She asked, half teasing. Dante shrugged, and Lady rolled her eyes.

"I thought you wanted to save this girl." She mumbled, a frown marring her features. Dante looked up at her.

"Yeah, well..." He trailed off. He wasn't quite sure why he was being so serious about this job. Sure there were similarities between this incident and his childhood, but that wouldn't have that much of an impact on him...would it? He stamped the floor with his heel, for no reason what so ever, and heard a heavy clunk as he did so.

"What the-?" He exclaimed, sitting up to see what made the noise. "Hey, I found something!" He called out. He stood up, and the other two made their way over to him.

The three of them looked in disbelief at the large, rusted, square trap door which had been badly concealed with dirt.

"A trapdoor?" Lady asked no one in particular.

"They haven't done a very good job hiding it." Trish said gratefully.

"See? Giving up, psh, you underestimate me." Dante scoffed.

"You found it by accident, you asshole." Lady snapped, fed up of him already. Trish simply chuckled at them.

"You're like an old married couple!" She laughed, gesturing towards the two of them.

"Well, she does do nothing but complain." Dante said with a grin, crouching down so he could lift up the trap door.

"And you do nothing but sit on your ass." Lady snapped. "Why on earth would I marry this moron anyway?" She asked Trish, who replied with a shrug.

"Ladies, you can argue over me later, just come and take a look at this." Dante interrupted. On the surface of the old, iron hatch, a riddle had been engraved.

"I'll just try opening it first." He explained, then grasped the thin metal handle with both hands, and gave a tug.

Flames shot out from nowhere, and sent him flying about 20 feet backwards, thudding against a large pile of metal girders. He gave a grunt, and then stood up, quickly raising a hand to show he was alright. Lady and Trish rolled their eyes, but both felt their heartbeats return to a normal rate as they saw he was fine. They glanced at each other, and then looked away, blushing. Lady turned her attention to the inscription on the hatch.

_'The fires of hell can only be smothered by the coldest of ice._' it read, in ornate, script letters.

"Who'd go to all the trouble of cursing some old trap door?" Lady complained. Trish let out a laugh.

"The coldest of ice?" She repeated, as if in disbelief, "What a coincidence we told him to bring it with him." She chuckled. Lady looked at her in confusion for a moment, before her eyes lit up as she caught on to what Trish meant. Dante walked to towards them, clearly annoyed.

"Okay, so how do I open it?" He grunted, looking down at the door. Trish frowned.

"Aren't you even going to try and figure it out?" She asked, almost in despair. Dante shrugged.

"Well, you two are both so intelligent; I thought you would've worked it out by now." He casually countered. Lady snorted a laugh,

"Your cheesy chat up lines won't work, Dante. You'll have to figure it out yourself." She scoffed. See, he was a jerk! Dante smiled. Just the reply he expected from her. She never changed.

He crouched down, and read the inscription.

"The 'coldest of ice'?" He muttered. He looked up the women, who were both staring down like they knew something he didn't...

Which, they did.

He paused to think for a second, and then gave a half smile.

"You two must be telepathic or something." He chuckled, and Cerberus appeared from nowhere. He grabbed metal ring in the middle, and the two women automatically took a few paces backwards. Dante gave a deep breath, then jumped, and twisted his body sideways like a windmill, doing a mid air log roll. The three prongs of Cerberus span around as he did, and smashed into trap door. Dante landed, flicked Cerberus away again, and took a step back to look at the door. Trish and Lady resumed their positions, and they all watched the door eagerly.

At first it appeared to do nothing, but after a few moments, a high pitched hissing sound emanated from deep within the door, the flakes of rust seemed to melt away, and the inscription glowed with a bright light.

Then nothing.

Dante scowled, and tried opening it again. This time the door opened with ease, and Dante hopped into the small hatch, disappearing into the inky darkness.

"He can never just **wait**." Trish mumbled, jumping in after him. Lady sighed.

"At least you two don't have to worry about breaking any bones." She grumbled, and began descending the metal ladder which was embedded into the side of the shaft.

******

As he walked down the dingy street, Alucard looked at the lifeless surroundings. All around him were miserable looking buildings. As he'd left the hotel, the backdrop had been that of chain stores, large electrical billboards, and glamourous restaurants, but as he got further away, the buildings became more disheveled, old and deserted, and as he continued to wonder he came across a small cafe to his left, and on a whim, decided to enter.

The cafe was typical American style; booths next to the large windows, and opposite, a long counter with red cushioned stools lining it, where a waitress stood. She was wearing rollerblades, a pink short jacket and matching skirt, and had a yellow star tattoo on her cheek. She looked up in glee as she saw the red clad man,

"Oh, hey Da-" She stopped as she took in his actual appearance, the tall man with black hair and red glasses, he'd decided to leave his beloved hat at the hotel,

"Oh, sorry, I mistook you for someone else," She giggled nervously, then ushered him towards a seat "I'll go get you a menu," She said cheerfully, and skidded off behind the bar. Alucard glanced around the deserted cafe, when his eyes caught those of the man stood behind the oak counter, who was giving him an odd look. Alucard raised an eyebrow, and turned forward again, just as the waitress returned with a menu.

"Choose what you like!" She said happily, snapping her fingers "I suggest the strawberry sundae though, it's our specialty!" She giggled and slid over to the other side of the room. Alucard gazed halfheartedly at the menu. It's not like he could eat any of it. He gave a sigh, and just asked for a coffee.

As he sat, waiting for his drink, he heard the bell behind him clang as some other people entered the cafe. A small girl with curly blonde hair, and a tall man in a trench coat and hat had entered, and sat in the booth just in front of Alucard's. The little girl was wearing black leggings and a frilly pink and white polka dot dress top, and seemed to be complaining about something.

"I mean, doesn't he even care about his hygiene?! He's such a slob it makes me sick. Why do you put up with him Morrison?!" She complained, her voice raised in frustration. The man chuckled and shook his head.

"Because he's good at his job, even if he does go a bit overboard sometimes." He replied, removing his hat and pulling his arms out of the sleeves of his coat. "Although, I could ask **you** the same question Patty." He turned to the man behind the bar and casually ordered two cups of tea. Patty stuck her nose in the air and turned head to the left.

"Well, someone has to clean that place. And anyway, what kind of adult spends all his time eating strawberry sundaes?!" She whined, crossing her arms. When she realized that Morrison didn't have a response, she loosened up and slumped into her chair in defeat. The waitress rolled past Alucard's table and slid the brimming coffee cup from the tray she was holding onto the plastic surface with a wink, then continued on to Morrison and Patty's table, and placed down a pot of tea, two cups, and a jug of milk.

"Thanks Cindy." Morrison said quickly, and Cindy nodded and turned to Patty, who had already begun pouring out her drink.

"Hee, hee," The waitress giggled, "But isn't that what's so great about him?" She grinned at the confused look on Patty's face "Well, most guys as buffed up as him have to chug endless protein pills and eat nothing but wheat. He can eat pizza and sundaes all day and doesn't gain a pound." She looked up dreamily, "Aaah, if only I could do that," She said wistfully, her eyes clouding over. Morrison chuckled at the rage in Patty's face.

"He's still a jerk!" She shouted, realizing that Cindy had a point.

Alucard was sat in amusement listening to the bizarre conversation between the three friends, when Patty turned around with an annoyed yet hopeful look on her face.

"If you knew someone who just ate pizzas and strawberry sundaes constantly, and drank beer all day, and never did their job properly, and never cleaned up after themselves, and owed loads of people money, which he'd never be able to pay back, what would you do to make him act like a responsible adult?" She asked in one breath. Alucard looked thoughtfully for a moment, and took a sip of the insipid coffee before answering.

"If I knew someone like that, I would probably show them the true _horrors_ of the world, that there are some _monsters_ out there which feed off of pathetic men like _him_." Alucard replied honestly, trying not to smile. But rather than a triumphant or perhaps even scared face on the little girl, she instead looked disappointed.

"It's not like he'd care about that anyway." She grumbled, dispirited, "In fact, he'd probably go running after them." She continued, leaning her cheek on her hand and sighing.

"Go running after them?" Alucard asked, intrigued. Did this girl know he meant demons, or did she think he was talking about something else? "Why, does he enjoy a fight?" He asked eagerly.

It was at this time that Morrison's phone began ringing. He rooted through his coat pockets, and finally pulled out his mobile.

"Hello?" He said down the phone, "Who is it?" After a pause, a disgruntled look washed over his features, and Morrison hung up. "Sorry Patty, we're going to have to leave, one of my other clients needs to speak to me." He apologized, and the girl groaned.

"Fine, fine, fine." She muttered, jumping out of the booth, and storming off towards the door. Morrison picked up his coat and slung it over his arm, threw some change on the table, then nodded goodbye to Cindy and Alucard.

"It was nice meeting you." He said, and with that the two of them walked out of the cafe. Alucard rolled his eyes and took another sip of the hot coffee. Sure, he could have just read her mind, but he got the feeling there'd be no benefit. Plus all he'd hear would be complaints about the man, whoever he was.

"Sorry about that," Cindy apologized, shifting over to his table, "She doesn't mean to complain so much, but he really does wind her up sometimes." She said with a sigh, "I don't think he likes kids at all." She chuckled, holding the tray flat against her chest. Alucard smiled, and looked up at her.

"So, who is this man?" Alucard asked her, leaning forward.

"His name is..."

*****

"WH-Who are you?!" A man's trembling voice echoed through the darkness. Dante looked around, unable to see a thing. He concentrated energy onto his sword, and it began glowing with a dark red light. He pulled it off his back, and held it in front of him like a torch.

"T-tell me your names!" the voice repeated. Dante's eyes adjusted to the gloom, and looked around. He, Trish and Lady were in a small room, with damp metal walls, corrugated flooring, and a heavy metal door, and in front of them stood a man, who was only about 5ft tall. He had greasy brown hair, his eyes looked red from the light of the sword, and the gloominess emphasized the paleness of his skin. He looked **incredibly** agitated, his hands wrapped shakily around a small pistol, pointed at Dante's head.

"Tell me your names, or I'll shoot!" He warned, his already squeaky voice getting even higher. Dante raised an eyebrow and looked at Trish. She nodded and Dante turned back to the man.

"The name's Dante." He replied. "I'm here for Lethys." He pointed rebellion at the man, now holding it like the weapon it was, rather than a camping accessory. The man gasped, and rushed out of the room, before any of them could stop him.

"Well done Dante." Lady said angrily, "Now he's going to tell all of his friends we're here. So much for a sneak attack." She grumbled. Trish smiled at her, and said

"I thought the whole point was to storm the place. Forget sneak attacks, this way'll be more fun."

Dante attached his sword to his back once again, the glow making thick, deep red shadows anywhere that the dim light didn't touch. He strode excitedly out of the room into a long corridor, and turned around to the two females.

"That man...I think he's a vampire." Dante interupted. The two women looked at him. "Red eyes, pale skin. Fits the description, right? Even if he was a complete coward." He continued. Trish nodded.

"Very possibly." She agreed. Lady felt a twinge of self consciousness

towards her own magenta eye, and looked at the floor for a while. Then she looked up at them, determination emanating from her.

"I don't care what kind of demon they are, I won't rest until they're all dead." She said angrily. Trish and Dante nodded, and the three of

them began walking down the corridor, the only source of light being rebellion's demonic rays.

As they neared the end of the corridor, they saw there were three different corridors branching off.

"Split up?" Trish suggested, as the three stood at the cross roads. Dante and Lady nodded, and each went down a different path. Dante chose right, Trish middle, and Lady left.

As Dante strolled down the dim room, he realized that Lady and Trish now had no source of light. Well, Trish had her powers, but Lady had nothing. He felt a twinge of guilt, as he realized that perhaps this mission was asking a bit much of her. He shook his head, knowing that she'd pump him full of bullets for even thinking that. She was one scary lady.

After walking into a large metal door, he took a step back, and kicked it down. A large, satisfying clang erupted as it thudded onto the floor. He smiled and walked into the room, gazing at its contents.

Along the floor lay several, large wooden boxes. All of which were old and battered. As he neared the closest one, he realized that they were all coffins.

Every single last one.

It suddenly dawned on him this underground lair was in fact a den of vampires. He glared intensely at the boxes. Vampires were the worst kind of demons, he thought. They were humans who aren't satisfied with their lives, so they sacrifice their humanity to become something monstrous. He shook his head, and knocked on the lid of one of the coffins.

"Hey, get up." He shouted, bashing his hand so hard on the wood that he thought it would crumble. An agitated hiss echoed out of the box, and Dante stepped back as the inhabitant threw the lid off.

"What is it?" snapped a very angry female vampire. Dante leaned over and gave a cheeky smile.

"Sorry to barge in on you like this, but I'm looking for someone." He announced, gesturing around the room, looking around in mock disorientation. The vampire looked stunned for a second, before instantly leaping onto Dante, forcing him onto the floor. She opened her mouth showing her elongated canines, and got ready to drain his blood. Dante kicked her off, and whipped out ebony and ivory. With one, he shot her in the head, and with the other, in the heart. She let out a deafening shriek, flew backwards, and turned to ash as she hit the wall. Dante stood up gracelessly and brushed himself down.

"I know girls throw themselves at me, but that was a bit too far." He grumbled.

------------

"Cindy," The man behind the bar said stubbornly, frowning "Can you come over here for a second?" Cindy spun around, and gave him the thumbs up,

"Sure thing!" She chuckled gleefully. Alucard listened as the man began muttering to the girl in a lowered voice.

"I know talking to customers is part of the job, Cindy" He began, his voice stern, "But I don't like the look of that man. Just try to keep away from him, alright? I've got a bad feeling about him." He warned, giving a glance at Alucard, who was draining the rest of the rancid coffee. Cindy rolled her eyes, dismissing his warning.

"If you say so..." She said, the joy missing from her usually peppy voice. Alucard frowned, and stood up.

"Well, I'll be taking my leave." He announced, pulling a card out of one of his pockets. "Do you take cards?"

Moments later, Alucard left the cafe, and continued his leisurely stroll, hoping that he could come across something interesting. He noticed that there were hardly any houses now, and he was strolling along the edge of a small park. He glanced towards the horizon, and saw that he still had a long wait before sunset, and so he turned left and headed into the park.

The park was more of a paved area, with a strange monument in the middle, with a dark statue of a warrior on a reared horse, holding a sword triumphantly as if in battle. The statue was on top of a square, marble pillar, which had several inscriptions on. Curious, Alucard walked over to the statue, and scanned the pillar.

"So...This is Sparda." He said to himself, reading the only legible word.

"This was the Sparda that the boy Nero was supposedly related to. 'The great warrior'."

'Still,' Alucard thought, 'He can't have fought any real wars. There'd be records of it at least, and Integra couldn't find a shred of information on him.' He thought smugly. 'At least those in my country still remember my role in those battles, all those centuries ago.'

As he walked slowly around the statue, he found himself intrigued by the helmet Sparda's statue was wearing, trying to guess what time period Sparda had lived in, but with no luck. It looked more like a pair of horns than a helmet, and he couldn't place what era it had come from. Furrowing his brow, he walked over to one of the benches at the edge of the park and sat down. He closed his eyes, and a gust of wind blew past him, whipping his hair across his face, and his coat flapped around his legs. He opened his eyes once again, and saw a strange red bird flying around the statue, buffeting it every now and again with its tail, as if it was trying to hurt the warrior. All of a sudden, he sensed a demon close by, and looked around casually. Whatever it was, it kept thrashing about. And it was in front of him...

'The bird.' He thought, his frown relaxing. 'Well, something other than a vampire. It makes a nice change.' He chuckled, and walked up to the strange, blood red semisolid bird. Rather than waste bullets, he jumped up and used his hand as a knife, cutting the bird into two. It let out a shriek, and the two halves dropped from the sky like a plummeting aircraft. But as they fell, they seemed to pulse and distort, and each half turned into a smaller version of the original bird, and they began flapping around rapidly. Alucard frowned.

'Great...' He thought sarcastically, pulling out his two guns, the 454 Casull and the Jackal, and began shooting rapidly at the now provoked birds, their movements becoming increasingly erratic, each bullet ripping though the birds like a knife through icing.

After a few seconds, they both were engulfed by stone, and plunged from the air with a thud, making them sitting ducks while Alucard fired the final bullets into them. The stone shattered, and that was the end of that.

"Damn," Alucard grumbled. He'd used up both magazines in his guns. "Pointless creatures." He complained.

While he was reloading, he could hear hurried footsteps, and turned his head to see Patty running towards him, with an unreadable expression on her face.

"It's you again!" She shouted, waving at him as she ran towards him. "Did you just kill those demons?" She asked him carelessly.

"Yes." He replied, amazed that a little girl could talk about demons so light-heartedly. She shoved her nose in the air, and put her hands on her hips.

"Humph. Well, it must be guys in red coats then." She thought out loud, looking at him warily. "But, don't tell me you like pizza too?" She asked, anxiously. Alucard chuckled.

"No. My tastes are a little more...obscure." He grinned, his lip rising to reveal his fangs. But Patty didn't even seem to notice.

"Good." She said curtly. Then, she looked at the watch on her wrist, and her eyes widened. "Oh god, I've gotta go! I'm going to be late!" She exclaimed, and with that she ran off. Alucard stood in disbelief. How could she be so casual about demons?

He shook his head, and slumped back down onto the bench, the wind once again causing his hair to flutter about, and the leaves in the trees surrounding him gave a rustled sigh, and created a soothing background noise. His thoughts began wondering, and found them focusing on the sleeping vampire who was in his hotel room right now.

Seras.

The entire point of bringing her, despite Integra's protests, was to show her what she **could** be capable of. If only she would stop clinging feebly onto her withered shreds of humanity. She would see what happened when two powerful vampires clashed, and then he could truly show her what it meant to be inhuman, to fight with all of hell's fury backing you. And once she accepted what she had now become, he could finally mould her into the perfect monster, who would accompany him for eternity.

----------

Lady walked blind through the dark corridor, each step bouncing loudly around the walls. She held one of her smaller guns in her hands, aimed straight in front of her. If a vampire was here, they would clearly have the upper hand, being able to see in darkness, so she wasn't giving them any more advantages. Her heartbeat was already raised, her breaths shallow, and adrenaline pumping through her veins. She stopped for a moment, to try and calm down, when she realized that there were other footsteps besides her own, coming from the front and to the right of her. She barred her teeth, and as stealthily as possible, made her way to the end of the corridor, where there was a sharp right turn. She crouched down, and she could hear the other footsteps had stopped, although she could still hear their breathing. She jumped out from behind the cover of the wall, and fired several shots, before dodging a jolt of electricity which flew her way.

'Electricity?' She thought.

"Trish?" She called out, not stepping out from the corner again.

"Lady?" Trish replied, sounding rather shocked. They both stepped out from their cover, and smiled at each other.

"I guess both of our choices were dead ends" Lady chuckled, lowering her gun. Trish smiled,

"Come, let's find Dante." She commanded, grabbing Lady by the hand and dragging her along with her as they rushed through the corridor which Lady had come through.

Dante groaned as the rest of the coffins opened, and about 10 vampires burst out.

"You bastard! You killed her!" Shouted one.

"How dare you trifle with us, filthy human." Another roared. Dante shrugged, put his guns back in their holsters.

"Sorry, I tried to let her down gently, but she wasn't getting the message." He joked, stroking his stubbly chin. The vampires looked at each other in rage.

"How dare you mock us!" Cried a furious male vampire. "You came here and declared war against us for no reason!" He said in disgust. Dante shook his head.

"Actually, you're the one with the guard who was going to shoot me, and the crazy bitch who was going to eat me. All I wanted was to find someone I've been looking for." He explained, crossing his arms. The vampires looked at each other in slight confusion, then the male suddenly realized something.

"So, you're here for that girl?" He asked, still glaring. Dante nodded.

"You got it. Now," Cerberus appeared once again, and he held the ring in his right hand limply. "Tell me where she is."

The male threw his head back and laughed.

"We were offered a great deal for looking after her, you know." He began, looking around at the metallic dungeon,

"We were offered great power and the freedom to do whatever we wished with her... So long as she didn't die of course. She's certainly given us a great deal of pleasure." He growled happily, his hungry voice full of enjoyment. Dante slung Cerberus over his shoulder.

"Listen, you ugly piece of shit, I didn't ask for your god damn life story, just tell me where she is. If ya don't tell me, I'll wipe out the lot of you, then find her myself. What's it gonna be?" He asked, his eyes flashing, and his grip on Cerberus tightening. The vampires laughed horrid cackles, and looked at Dante hungrily.

"You think you can beat us, human?" The male asked again, looking on in amusement at Dante, "I'm afraid you're mistaken. We will obliterate

you." He grinned, his fangs reflecting the gloomy red light of rebellion.

His eyes glowed orange in anticipation, while Dante pulled Cerberus off his shoulder, and put his wrist through the metal ring, like a bizarre bracelet.

The vampire pounced, and when he was just inches from Dante's face, he span Cerberus around on his wrist, the frozen chunks tearing into the vampires head. He turned to ash instantly, and Dante jumped forward, expertly handling Cerberus, tearing through the vampires left, right and center. As the last two ran towards him in opposite directions, he let out a 'Wooop!' and span it around his body, attacking them both at the same time. Their ash fell to the floor, and Dante put Cerberus away.

"I told you." He sighed, brushing traces of ash off his coat, seemingly annoyed.

"There you are!" Came Lady and Trish's voices from behind him. He turned around and gave them a nod.

"We ran into each other at a dead end, so we came to find you." Lady explained. Dante nudged a pile of ash with his boot, and muttered;

"You could have come a bit sooner. You'll be complaining when you've got nothing to do." Lady rolled her eyes, and the three of them marched through the room and exited at the other end to another corridor.

Several empty rooms and corridors later, they came across an office like room. A large wooden desk was on the west side of the room, and pile of letters were scattered across. On the right side of the room was another coffin, only this one was unoccupied, and strange silver smears on the walls.

"Wow, an office which is more disgusting than yours." Lady exclaimed, her eyebrows raised.

"Y-you!" Came a man's high pitched voice from the back of the room. The small man from before was stood in a doorframe in front of them, pointing his pistol at Dante once again. "Y-y-you mustn't interrupt the master!" He squeaked, and he pulled the trigger, a bullet hitting Dante right in the forehead. He reeled back, then leaned forward, his face in a scowl.

"Hey! What did I do to you?!" He shouted, wiping the blood from his forehead. He pulled out ivory, and shot the man in the head, and he crumpled into a pile of ash on the floor.

"That takes care of him." He grunted. Then the three of them proceeded through the door, into the dark room in front of them, and looked in horror at the scene inside.

---------------------

Dun dun dun!

That's the end of chapter 6! Chapter 7 is on it's way soon :]

AND PLEASE **REVIEW!**


	7. First Impressions

Chapter 7, enjoy ^-^

And sorry for the delay, lot's of stuff's been happening lately DX

But, don't worry, chapter 8 **will** be up soon ^-^

* * *

The foyer was full of a large group of businessmen waiting to check in as Alucard re-entered the hotel at 6 o'clock. He walked calmly through the crowded room as the sea of people seemed to part in response to his oppressive aura. As he reached the elevator and pressed the button, he could sense the fear emanating from the skittish businessmen and women, who were gaping after him in a sense of wonder.

The elevator doors slowly opened, and he stepped in. Just as the doors were closing, one of the businesswomen hurried into the elevator, her black leather handbag just missing the doors as they closed. She nodded politely to Alucard, who by this time had pressed the button for the penthouse.

"Good evening." He replied, giving her a quick look over. She had long mahogany hair, the top layer tied up messily with a dark green ribbon which matched her large, heavily lashed eyes, while the rest of her hair fell to her midsection. She was young, of medium height and build, and was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers.

"Penthouse, eh? Nice." She muttered, as she pressed the button for the 6th floor. Alucard shrugged casually, and crossed his arms while young woman stood nervously beside him, as the elevator began accelerating upward.

_Ding_

The elevator doors opened, and Alucard stepped into the spacious penthouse. The woman behind him gave a gasp as she saw the view, before looking away in unease. She looked back up at him apologetically through her lashes, as the elevator doors closed and she was gone. Alucard's eyebrow rose, before he turned around and looked back at the view.

The ruby sun was sluggishly making its way over the horizon of the city, the buildings becoming menacing silhouettes. The ancient vampire walked over to the window and glanced at the street below, looking down on the humans who were all scurrying around aimlessly.

'Humans are so foolish.' He thought, watching their seemingly meaningless actions, from a beggar pleading for change from passersby, to a couple having a heated argument in the middle of street.

Before waking Seras, he set her gun on the counter, and prepared a few other things. Then he stepped into the dark bedroom, and crouched down next to his fledgling's coffin. He knocked gently on the lid of the coffin before tenderly opening it, to see Seras sleeping peacefully.

"It's time to wake up, police girl." He said softly and yet sternly at the same time. Seras opened her eyes, disorientated, before they focused on Alucard, who was kneeling beside the coffin. She sluggishly sat up, and rubbed her head. "Get your gun, we'll be leaving soon." He continued, standing up straight. Seras stretched before clambering out of the coffin. She brushed herself down, and began searching the room for her harkonnen cannon. Alucard watched in slight agitation, before pointing towards the lounge, Seras quickly catching on and wandering towards the orange bathed room. She squinted as the last beams of sunlight escaped over the metallic horizon and invaded her eyes. A distracting stinging sensation covered her as her bare skin was exposed to the poisonous waves and she ducked out of the light and stepped into the shadows, and began scanning the room for her gun. It had been placed on the counter of the kitchenette, and something was rested on top of it. She gave a puzzled look, and quickly made her way over, dodging any patches of light on the way.

The mysterious object was a bag of donor blood. Seras felt the usual wave of hunger and desire pass over her, before, as usual, shaking it off. She quickly tossed the bag aside, not wanting to look at it, and reached for her gun.

But a gloved hand tightly grabbed her wrist.

"Drink it." A familiar voice ordered angrily. Seras looked up to see her master looking down at her. His eyes were burning, and she felt a lump in her throat form in misery.

"Please, I don't…" She protested, trying to release her hand from his grip. He chuckled, and his grasp tightened to the point where it was actually hurting.

"Drink." He commanded, his other hand reaching for the bag and waving it in front of her face. She looked away, in a vain attempt to ignore the screaming of her instincts, which were demanding her to drink. She screwed her eyes shut, and held her breath, praying for something to save her.

"Seras." Alucard's voice echoed in her mind, "This time, I am not asking you to drink for my sake, this time it is for your own. If the vampire we are hunting manages to render me incapacitated for a while, **you** will have to defend yourself, which you can't do while your body is so weak. For your own sake, drink the blood." His tone was lined with despair, and his eyes, once burning, were now pleading, as if his very soul was trying to scream out in desperation at her. Seras looked in bewilderment at her Master, who, for the first time in Seras's short life, looked truly desperate.

But no sooner had his desperation appeared it had vanished again. His eyes were once again ablaze, and his voice was raspy in anger.

"Drink it Seras." He ordered once again. Seras winced as his grip on her wrist tightening so much that blood was being drawn. Alucard raised her wrist to his lips and kissed the wound, some of the blood dripping onto his lips. As he let go of her wrist, which limply fell to her side, he licked his lips, a small smile appearing.

Seras's soul could no longer fight her instincts, and she snatched the bag out of his hand. She instantly bit into the bag, her small sharp canines punching through the thin plastic wrapping, and felt the frozen liquid rush into her mouth, her body instantly flooding with energy she never knew she had. Alucard growled happily as he watched the innocent girl embracing the monster which lurked within her.

* * *

Dante, Lady and Trish stood dead still, unable to believe the ghastly scene in front of them, their bodies locked in shock. This room, unlike the rest, had stone walls, with green algae infesting any cracks in the slabs, and the floor was old, worn tiling. A few wooden torches were mounted to the walls, giving little licks of light in the inky darkness. This room had been kept in its original state, in contrast to the rest of the dungeon, which had been replaced with metal. On the right hand side, an old, rotting, worn wooden table with shackles was blotched with the same silver smears as they had seen in the room before, but with much more this time, some of the shining silver liquid reflecting the subdued light of the torches. The trail led across the floor, and brought their eyes to the left side of the room, where they saw the disgusting sight.

There was Lethys. And something else.

Her coat was strewn across the floor, and the back of her black and white t-shirt had been ripped to shreds, revealing that the source of the bizarre silver liquid was in fact several deep gashes in her back.

Her blood was silver.

Her arms were held above her head by chains which were embedded in the stone wall, and her feet shackled together with rusted iron clamps. She whimpered both in pain and horror, as a dark figure was driving a machete through the skin on her back, more of her blood gushing onto the floor.

The figure chucked away the machete onto the floor, closed his eyes, and then began lapping at the numerous wounds on her back, grunting in pleasure as he did so. Lethys tensed up her back muscles instinctively, but it caused more blood to flood out, and the figure just enjoyed it more and more, his tongue rhythmically tracing each of the wounds in turn. After a few moments, he allowed some of the silver liquid to pool in his hands, which he slowly ran up Lethys's back as he stood up, then as he reached his full height, about a head taller than the petrified girl, he slowly spread his hands across her jaw, and then over her mouth, her own blood being forcefully fed through her lips.

Tears streamed from her eyes, and the vampire grinned, his eyes flashing open, with pure delight. Then he grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair, and pulled her head back and forced her to look left, leaned his head over her left shoulder, pressed his lips hard up against hers, and roughly parted her lips with his ice cold tongue.

He pushed her further up against the wall, Lethys stifling a scream from the pain of his body pressing against her wounded back, as he traced the side of her body with his hands. He moved them to just above her navel, his fingers curling underneath the base of her top. They slowly glided up to her midsection, before he wrapped his arms around her tightly, and tore his face off hers, as he turned to look in pure fury at Dante, Trish and Lady, who had been immobilized by horror the entire time.

His furious eyes, however, seemed to break the spell.

Lady shot at the chains around her wrists and feet, shattering them, while Dante rushed in, and tore the vampire away from Lethys, hurling him to the other side of the room, where he collided with the table. Trish and Lady hurried over to Lethys, gingerly catching her as she collapsed to the floor. She opened her eyes, not fully conscious of what was happening, and began staggering towards the door, more blood dripping from her wounds.

The vampire went into a blood lust, and he bounded over to Lethys, crashing into her, and sending them both onto the floor. He flipped her over, and forced her chin up, ready to bite her. Trish instinctively shot him in the head. He got knocked back and Lady helped Lethys get up, who had only just realized that they were helping her. She looked around in terror as the vampire began growling, but Dante shot him in the head as well. Lady quickly lead Lethys out of the room before the vampire could retaliate.

Dante and Trish blocked the vampire's escape, and looked in disgust.

"You filthy scum." Dante said in a strained voice, pointing both his guns at the vampire "You won't even die easily, will you?"

"That would be too simple." Trish complained, her two guns aimed at him as well. The vampire grinned manically.

"This isn't over, I will make her mine." He grunted, and for the first time, they took in his appearance. He looked about 30, was about average height but slimly built, with long brown hair, scraped back into a tight pony tail. His eyes were blood red; he had dark lips, which made his white teeth seem even brighter. He laughed victoriously, before fading through the wall and disappearing. Dante and Lady both shot at the place where he had been, but with no luck. They sighed, and went back into the previous room, where Lady was trying hopelessly to comfort Lethys, who was sat on the floor, hugging her knees and shaking slightly. Dante crouched to look at her, and shook his head apologetically.

"Lethys...I'm so sorry." He mumbled awkwardly. She looked at him, her eyes welling up.

"WH-why? You told me to leave your office, and I stayed anyway, it's my fault this happened," She said, her voice thick and wobbly. "If you hadn't had come..." She trailed off, and wiped the tears from her eyes. Lady looked in sympathy at her, before turning to Dante and Trish,

"We need to get her to a hospital, these wounds could get infected, and she's already lost a lot of blood." She explained. Trish nodded in agreement, but Lethys looked at them in despair,

"No!" She shouted suddenly, causing the other three to look at her in confusion, "Please, I just...want to go home..." She tapered off, looking away from them. They exchanged puzzled looks, and Dante put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Fine. You don't have to go if you don't want." He reassured her. She looked up, a weak smile on her features, and nodded gratefully.

"Now then, we've got to get you out of here." Dante said, standing up.

* * *

_Briiing, briiing_

"Alucard, the car's outside. Don't keep them waiting." Integra's voice immediately commanded as Alucard answered the phone.

"Of course, Master. I don't want to postpone this fight by a second." He growled, watching Seras drain the last drops of blood from the crumpled bag.

"Well hurry up and get Seras ready, if we miss our chance-"

"I won't let this opportunity pass me by. Don't worry; the police girl is ready to go, aren't you?" He replied, getting a bubbly nod from Seras, who was now brimming with energy. "Well then, until tomorrow." He finished, hanging up. Seras grabbed the harkonnen cannon from off the counter, which suddenly seemed much lighter, and made her way over to the elevator, her body tingling from the boost of energy. Alucard grabbed his hat and glasses, followed her into the elevator and they made their way to the street in front of the hotel.

"Mr. Trenton?" A generic looking chauffeur greeted them outside of the luxurious hotel. He gestured towards the passenger seats of a smart black car, "Please take a seat." Alucard nodded in acknowledgement, and gracefully made his way onto the back seat. Seras, however, scrambled clumsily onto the seat next to him, praying that her skirt wouldn't reveal anything personal onto the unsuspecting world outside, and gained a sigh from Alucard.

The chauffeur shut the door behind her, and took his place in the front seat.

"So, sir, where is your destination this evening?" He asked, turning around in his chair. Alucard pulled his hat off his head and rested it on his lap, his hair falling onto his shoulders.

"Devil May Cry." He growled, his voice full of anticipation. The driver looked startled for a moment, before shaking his head and twisting his body forward again.

"Yes, of course Sir." He replied as he pulled out of the car bay and onto the busy main road ahead of them.

* * *

It took the three devil hunters 30 minutes to lead Lethys carefully through the never ending metallic dungeon, and another 15 getting her up the shaft to the surface.

They had tried bandaging up her back with a few thin strips of material they had managed to salvage from her now shredded white coat, but with little success. It barely covered the wounds, but provided some protection against the freezing cold wind which was whipping around the construction site.

Morrison was waiting patiently with his car by the sidewalk which was about 30 meters away from the trapdoor. After helping Lethys manoeuvre the final stretch, Morrison helped her climb into the car.

"Are you alright?" He asked Lethys, who was panting heavily from the effort. She nodded feebly, leaning forward so the backrest of the seat wouldn't irritate her wounds.

"That's good. Well, I'll take you to the hospital then." Morrison started, before a bewildered glance from Lethys cut him off.

"It's alright, she can stay with me." Lady offered, leaning against the side of the car. Lethys gave a sigh.

"Thank you all so much." She mumbled, her cheeks flushing. Dante shrugged casually, before turning to Morrison.

"How'd you know to come?" He asked. Morrison chuckled, shaking his head.

"Just a lucky guess really. I had to skip a lunch date with Patty for you." He said in mock anger. Dante rolled his eyes.

"You should be thanking me then." He said, half-heartedly, before turning back to Lethys. "Lady'll look after you. I'll visit in the morning. I've needed an excuse to visit Lady's place for some time now." He teased, giving Lady a sideward's glance, who replied with a stone cold glare.

"And then maybe we can find out who the hell those freaks that kidnapped you are." Trish cut in, bringing the conversation back to a serious note. Morrison exhaled noisily, and pulled open the driver's door.

"That's what I'd like to know." He grumbled, shutting the door as he sat down. Lady got in the car also, sitting on the backseat next to Lethys.

"Well, we'll see you tomorrow." She shouted out of the window to Trish and Dante, as Morrison jerked the car into gear, and began driving off down the street in the direction of Lady's apartment.

Dante and Trish stood silent for a moment, as they watched the car disappear over the featureless horizon, and then turned their attention to the darkening sky above them

"Wow, this took longer than I expected." Dante noted, scratching his stubbly chin. Trish smoothed her blonde hair back into place, and rested her hand on her hip.

"Dante, we need to find out what she knows." Trish said sharply, bringing Dante's thoughts back down to earth. He sighed and nodded.

"I know, I know. Tomorrow we'll ask. I promise." He replied. "Well, I'm gonna head back to the office. I'll see you at Lady's place tomorrow?" He asked, beaming cheekily. Trish nodded.

"Of course." She answered. Dante's grin turned into a grateful smile. He tenderly held onto her arm, pulled her close, and gave her a quick peck on the forehead, before realising her arm, turning around and walking off down the street.

As he reached his office, which was only a 15 minute walk away from the construction yard, he smiled mockingly at the busy queue of cars which had suddenly appeared as he got closer and closer to town. The roads were jam packed, with drivers impatiently beeping their horns and revving their engines.

He turned left into the dark alley which lead to his office, and approached the familiar wooden doors. He pushed them open, and entered the gloomy shop. Feeling the sudden urge to eat something, he plodded over to his desk, which had been mysteriously tidied, no pizza boxes in sight.

'Patty.' He thought automatically. He sighed, unable to comprehend why she insisted spending so much time tidying, despite the fact that he was clearly just going to make it messy again.

Giving up on getting pizza, he tossed rebellion to the side of the room sat down at his desk, and leaned his head back, resting it onto the back of the chair. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was the terrified face of Lethys as the monster sliced through her back. He jerked them open again, and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"Damn. That's the last thing I need." He complained, turning and looking at the photograph which was just to his left. A photograph of a beautiful blonde woman, sat proudly, her kind steel blue eyes gazing softly out of the frame. They had both had the exact same look in terror in their eyes, and just like back then, Dante had just watched as they were attacked.

'No.' He thought sternly, 'this time, I saved her. Lethys is alive. This time I could protect someone from the demons.'

* * *

"How much longer is this going to take?!" Alucard hissed angrily at the chauffeur, who was clutching onto the steering wheel for dear life.

"I'm sorry, Sir," He gabbled quickly, now terrified, "The traffic is really busy this evening, I'm going as quickly as I can." He revved his engine impatiently, willing the car in front of him to move. Alucard let out a snarl.

"Forget it." He snapped, his eyes flashing red under his heavy glasses. "We'll walk." He opened the door impatiently and dragged Seras out of the car with him.

"M-master!" Seras called after him awkwardly as Alucard began marching down the busy street. "Please wait!" Alucard span around angrily.

"I spent an hour in that car, an hour which I could've spent fighting. If I don't reach this vampire before he realises we're onto him, then he'll probably make a run for it." He hissed through his teeth, onlookers giving him and Seras odd looks. "This vampire is supposedly equal in ability to me. Have you any idea how long I've waited for this day. I can finally test myself. I can finally prove myself. I can finally show that Integra wouldn't stand a chance without me." His voice rose in anticipation and delight, as he spoke, and his eyes began glowing in maddening glee. "And more than anything, this beast is the closest I will ever find to death. I am **not** going to let this chance slip me by. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" He bellowed, all his teeth now pointed and razor sharp. Seras felt a cold shiver spread through her body, knowing that, once again, her master would drop his usual casual persona, and instead morph into the horrific monster that he was, the side of him that truly terrified her. She whimpered slightly, but nodded, showing that she understood.

After a 5 minute walk, they had reached the courtyard in front of Devil May Cry. The full moon shone over the tall buildings, and shadows licked the walls. At the other end of the courtyard, the heavy wooden doors to Devil May Cry waited menacingly, as if deterring any unwanted visitors. Alucard's pace increased as they neared the towering buildings.

_10 meters away. _

Somewhere in the background a car horn honked loudly.

_6 meters away._

An owl, startled by the movement in the alley, fluttered away towards the moon.

_3 meters away._

Seras was literally running to keep up with her master.

And now they were both stood right in front of the door.

"Seras. Wait outside." He commanded bluntly, before turning back to the door.

Uncharacteristically, Alucard pushed the door open, rather than phase through. It opened slowly, creaking loudly as the metal hinges grinded under the weight of the door. The shadows in the room should have concealed most of the details, but Alucard's eyes could see perfectly well in the gloom. Wooden floor boards. Plain walls. The back wall lined with swords and guns. A large semi circular sword the centre piece of the display. And sat, feet on his desk, hands behind his head, and half asleep, was Dante. Alucard took a step closer. His boots thumped loudly on the wooden floor. Dante opened his eyes. Peeking out from his fringe, he gave Alucard and the police girl a quick look over.

"Sorry, we're not open." He mumbled, shifting his weight and trying to phase back into semi consciousness.

Alucard took a step closer.

"You need the crapper? It's in the back." Dante mumbled, gesturing clumsily towards a door behind him and to his right. Alucard chuckled, the deep laugh echoing around the dark office.

"That's not why I'm here, Dante." Alucard said, controlling his voice to suppress any traces of emotion, despite the anticipation he was almost bursting with.

"Sooo..." Dante replied, his eyes opening slightly in interest. "You know who I am. Well, like I said, we're closed. You got work for me, come back tomorrow." Alucard simply chuckled again.

"Yet again you misunderstand me. My master has ordered me to kill you. I'm assuming you know why?" Alucard growled, unable to contain himself. Dante raised his eyebrows.

"You're with them? Wow, I figured you'd show up sooner or later. But this has to be a record. But then I guess since vampires are involved, of course there's gunna be some foul play..." Dante responded, referring to the vampires he had wiped out earlier. Alucard grinned, his fangs glinting.

"Well, I suppose." He said, pacing from side to side, looking at Dante intently. This vampire was certainly giving of a powerful aura. Something was different though. He didn't seem like a vampire. And his heart was certainly beating. He could hear it.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Slow and relaxed, as if he hadn't a care in the world. Still, he wasn't human. That much was certain.

Dante swung his legs off the desk, and leant on his elbows instead, leaning forward to get a better look at his guest.

Tall, dark, mysterious. And wearing a red coat, red glasses and a ridiculously large hat, as well as a black suit underneath, with a red tie which had been expertly knotted into two loops; this guy was as old fashioned as it got.

Dante stood up, tucked his heavy chair under his desk, and moved so he was stood in front of the desk, leaning on it slightly. He tapped at the wood with his thumb impatiently.

"Since you know my name, how 'bout you tell me yours?" He grunted, still tapping away. Alucard grinned.

"My name? You can call me Alucard." He answered, reaching up and pulling off his glasses. Dante frowned as he saw the man's glowing red eyes cutting through the darkness.

"Alucard huh? Can't just have a normal name. Gotta be fancy." He sighed, and shook his head. "Alright, I should have expected as much, from someone as old fashioned lookin' as you..." He paced slowly over to where rebellion lay, and picked it up, shifting the hilt so it rested on his shoulder. Then he pulled out ivory, and held it loosely in his left hand.

"A sword **and **a gun? Perhaps you will be some fun." Alucard muttered mostly to himself. "Well, that gun isn't like anything I've seen before. What is it-"

"It's been customised for rapid fire." Dante interrupted, looking at it fondly. "Ivory."

"I see..." Alucard frowned at the interruption, before pulling out the .454 Casull, and the Jackal. "I hope you won't mind then?" He asked, pointing the guns at Dante. Dante shook his head.

"Not at all." He said with a quick grin. He pointed ivory and rebellion at Alucard, and gave a deep breath.

They stood for a moment, steel blue eyes locked with glowing crimson eyes, waiting for the other to make their first move, neither daring to blink. When the first shot was fired, the bang exploded, marking the beginning of the battle between two hunters.

* * *

They finally meet! Sorry for such a delay, I get kinda side tracked easily ^-^;

I have a squirrel like mine, and the world's shortest attention span D:

Anyways, thank you to all of the people who reviewed, know that you have my gratitude :D

And I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^-^


	8. Round One

A/N;; See, didn't I tell you the 8th chapter would be up soon?

Gawd I worked my ass off on this one =D

It's pretty brutal, so just beware.

but you all forgive me, right? :3

And yes, 8 chapters later they finally start fighting ;-;

My bad :/ I like to drag things out XD

There's a bit of a breaking in the middle, just to seperate it up a bit. TOO MUCH VIOLENCE MAKES YOU CRAZY :O (*cough* major *cough*)

OH OH OH!

I got up to and including volume 8 of the hellsing manga. And not to spoil anything but;

Wow. (yes with a full stop)

Epic stuff XD

Especially the 8th one. I actually started laughing XD

*codename*'s *codeword* reminds me of *codename* from *codefilmtitle*

People who've read it might just know what I'm talking about :] I hope ^-^

* * *

As Alucard's bullet flew towards him, Dante dodged out of the way lightning fast. He fired with ivory, hitting Alucard in the chest. He rushed in, and deepened the wound by jamming his sword into the hole. Alucard gagged as the sword speared through his heart and spine like a knife through butter. He lifted the Jackal, and aimed at Dante's head. He pulled the trigger. Dante managed to dodge it, badly. The bullet ripped through his shoulder, and sent him flying towards the back of the room, and pulled rebellion with him. The sword tore through the wound as it exited, and the hole in Alucard's chest grew to twice the original size.

Dante groaned, and looked at the wound on his shoulder as he stood up clumsily.

"That's quite the gun you've got there. And those bullets have quite a bite to them." He muttered, as the wound began healing.

"Blessed bullets. And you don't even want to know what calibre this gun is." Alucard growled happily, as his chest began healing too. "But what about that sword of yours? It's certainly unique."

"Fight fire with fire, as they say." Dante grunted, loosening his now healed shoulder. "You wanna kill a demon, you gotta use demonic power." He stretched, apparently happy with his shoulder, and reset his position so he was ready to attack, ivory pointed at Alucard, and rebellion held in his right arm behind his back, pointed towards the ceiling.

For a moment, they stood motionless, the room completely still, apart from the glow which began building up around rebellion. Then, Dante quickly flicked rebellion from his back to his front, and a wave of light flew from the sword.

"DRIVE!" He shouted, as the slash hit Alucard, ripping through his shoulder. Dante flicked rebellion twice more, and another two waves exploded in quick succession.

"ONE, TWO!" Dante continued, as the other two sliced through Alucard, two deep gouges cut into his torso. Alucard grinned, and fired with both of his guns, hitting Dante's chest, and hurling him to the back of the room. The devil hunter retaliated with several quick shots from ivory, hitting the vampire's head.

As the shots hit his forehead, Alucard flew back onto the floor, and lay still. Dante turned around with a sigh, and began pulling the silver bullets from his impossibly large wounds.

"He was right about the calibre, Jesus..." He muttered, putting rebellion on his back again. The wounds began healing and the half breed let out a heavy breath, now happy that the vampire was dead.

Or so he thought.

Behind him, Alucard's body began to change. His hair grew out long, and his red clothes were replaced with a midnight black leather jumpsuit, covered in straps. His teeth were jagged and pointed, and his eyes glowing more violently than ever.

"Ha...Hahaha.....AHAHAHA!" He laughed as he stood up once again. "Don't stop now. Not when things are just getting interesting!" He called out, his voice now little more than a growl. Dante span around, only to be shot in the head with the Jackal. He was knocked onto his desk, where the photo frame fell onto the floor with a clatter. Alucard glanced at it quickly before he looked back towards Dante.

Then he did a double take.

The photo was of a woman. She had long golden blonde hair, and sapphire eyes. She was so similar to someone he had known before his servitude-

"Now look what you've done." Dante said, his voice shaking in silent anger, his head having quickly regenerated. He jumped back onto his feet, stood on the desk, and whipped rebellion off his back. He jumped over Alucard, twisted around, and sliced rebellion down the vampire's back as he fell. Alucard laughed, and span around, aimed the jackal at Dante once again. He shot randomly, hitting anywhere and everywhere on Dante. Dante flew backwards from the force, and crashed into the jukebox near the front of the room. He jumped back up, and threw ivory to the side.

A glow appeared in his left hand, and a purple box, with glowing yellow lines and a skull emblem in the middle, materialised. Dante grinned, and lifted it just above his shoulder. The box began shifting, changing, and transformed into a huge rocket launcher. He aimed at Alucard, and fired, a missile erupting from it. It crashed into Alucard, exploding on contact, and hurtling the nosferatu to the other side of the room. Dante wasted no time shifting the rocket launcher to its laser form, slamming it onto the floor in front of him, shattering the wooden floorboards underneath. Alucard was now charred and extremely wounded, his blood gushing from his wounds, which covered his entire body. He stood up, waiting for Dante to attack again.

He didn't have to wait long. Dante quickly fired the laser, the beam electrifying the air, and obliterating Alucard's body, only his head and shoulders now remaining. Dante restored the laser back to its original form, the violet box, and held it over his shoulder, one hand rested on his hip. He looked at the floor in slight anguish as he realised that there was now a thin layer of blood covering every inch of the floorboards.

"I don't think Patty will want to clean that up, somehow..." He muttered, absorbing Pandora, and moving over to the door to pick up ivory. He shook off the droplets of blood which clung to the pistol like dewdrops to a leaf, and put it back in its holster.

"M-master?" Seras opened the door slightly and peered in. Despite the darkness of the office, her sapphire eyes picked up the scene. Alucard's remains lay just by the stairs on the left, and Dante, looking a bit out of breath, but otherwise okay, stood just to her right, looking at her.

"Oh, he's yours? You better get a bag or something to carry him in. He's gotten himself in a mess." He said, scratching his stubble. Seras threw the door back and ran towards Alucard, her eyes wide in horror.

"Alucard!" She called, kneeling on the sopping wet floor next to Alucard. "Please, wake up..."

"Do you mind not making so much noise? The neighbours will start complaining." Dante grumbled, walking back over to his desk. Seras looked up at him in disbelief, then back towards Alucard. She didn't know how long it would take Alucard to wake up again, but she had to stall Dante until he did. She **had** to.

She quickly dashed outside, and grabbed the Harkonnen. Dante was picking up the photo of his mother when Seras returned, and he placed it gingerly back onto his desk. He noticed a small chip on the frame, and a flash of anger flew through him. Seras aimed at him, and braced her body for the kickback. She pulled the trigger, and the missile rocketed towards Dante. He looked up as the rocket was mere centimetres away from him,

_Thud_

_..._

_Clang_

She put the harkonnen back on her back, and began looking through the smoke. Seras could see Dante, his smoking fist extended in front of his face, and the crumpled missile which had fallen to his feet. He began cracking his knuckles, before looking at straight at her. Seras's eyes widened in disbelief,

"How could you have..." She stuttered, in amazement. Dante shrugged, and began wiping his knuckles on his jacket,

"So, what would a pretty little thing like you be doing with an old geezer like that?" He asked, pointing his thumb towards Alucard's remains. Seras looked at him, clueless. "You don't seem that bad, so why hang out with a vampire?" He reworded, trying to gauge her expression. It was a clear reaction.

Shame.

She bowed her head, and began playing with the sleeve of her yellow uniform.

"My master..." She muttered, her otherwise pale cheeks flushing deep red. 'Why on earth am I embarrassed?' She thought, still unable to look Dante in the eyes, 'Dante's a vampire too. I guess he'll just call me a fool for not drinking blood as well...'

"Oh, you're vampire?" Dante asked, a little shocked. "And he's your master? Man, do I feel bad for you. Having to put up with some wannabe Victorian nonce can't be fun." Dante sighed and perched himself on the edge of his desk, apparently deep in thought. Seras felt her blood boiling. Alucard had saved her from certain death, and given her a new life. She was **not** happy with Dante's remark.

"Shut up!" She shouted, anger fuelling her, "You don't know anything about him!" Dante looked up, quite taken aback. He never thought she'd get wound up over that. He raised his arms above his head as if to say sorry,

"Hey look I didn't mean to-"

"SHUT UP YOU MONSTER!" She yelled, her eyes welling up, and her entire body shaking with fury. "YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY DEMON!"

Dante looked at the floor, a spasm of pain threatening to tear out his heart. Sadness, shame and anger filled him.

"Why did you come here?" He asked quietly, clutching at the desk, "Why do you feel the need to attack me? Are you pissed that I killed your brethren? Or, are you being paid to kill me? Or are you just another of the many demons that are out for my blood? Why do **you** kill? What motivates you to do it?"

Dante looked through the darkness at the young woman stood in front of him, her blue eyes which were only moments ago raging, now lost and confused.

Seras looked towards her master, and Dante nodded.

"I see." He sighed. "You fight because he tells you to. You are a vampire, and he is your master, who you must obey... 'Power is all'..." Dante heaved himself off the desk, and walked over to her slowly, with long dragging steps. Seras began stepping backwards to get away from him, until her back hit the door of the office.

Dante put both hands at either side of her head, and leaned in towards her.

"You can fight the demon within you." He muttered softly, his warm breath tickling Seras's frozen skin. "Embrace your humanity; stay human as long as possible, get away from all the crap you've gotten into, fight every instinct your body is screaming at you, retain your purity. You don't want to become a demon. It causes more pain than you can know..." Seras's sapphire eyes locked with his steel blue ones.

'He... can't be a vampire, can he...? He's telling me to stay human. How can he be a monster?' She thought, looking at him. His eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Heh, you vampire's have it easy. At least you know what you are. God knows what I am." He pushed himself away from her, and began walking back towards the desk with his usual swagger.

Seras almost choked.

* * *

"Well, here we are... It's not much, but there's a bed and a cooker. It's all I need." Lady admitted as they stepped into her apartment and flicked on the light.

The apartment was small. Very small. A sofa and television had been crammed in, and a tiny kitchen was on the left. A door at the back led to Lady's bedroom, and a door on the right led to the bathroom. The walls were plain, just a light beige colour, and the floor was laminate. It looked nice enough, despite the size.

"It's really nice..." Lethys mumbled, looking around nervously. Lady had had to use 6 different keys on all the heavy locks on her door. Not only that, but the door itself was 1 meter thick, and made of silver. She didn't even want to think about how much it'd cost. 'It'd probably be easier to knock down the walls than get in through the door.' She thought, glancing around the room.

"Oh, if you're confused about the door, it's my way of making sure no demon's try and pull surprise attacks on me while I'm sleeping." Lady explained, walking into her room, as if expecting demons was the most natural thing in the world. "Plus it might just stop Dante from invading my privacy." After dumping her weapons on her bed, she walked back into the main room, and opened the fridge.

"Oh, oh I see..." Lethys mumbled, sitting precariously on the arm of the sofa.

"You hungry? You must be starving after..." Lady stopped talking, and looked away.

"Yeah, I am..." Lethys replied quietly. Lady began poking through the fridge, throwing away a lot of the contents.

"Ugh, most of this is out of date, I should go shopping more often. Looks like I'm going to have to get take out. Is pizza okay?" Lady said, feeling the bitter irony of ordering pizza.

"Yes, pizza is fine. Um..." Lethys replied, shifting where she sat, noticing how much of a mess she looked in the reflection of the TV. She'd gone an entire month without a shower, and felt disgusting. "Do you think I could... take a shower?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah, that's fine. There's towels in there, and shampoo and stuff. Nothing fancy, but it'll get you clean." Lady said, picking up the phone.

Lethys stepped over to the bathroom, and shut the door. The bathroom was tiny. There was just enough room for a shower cubicle, a toilet and a sink. Lethys peeled off her clothes, which were stained with her silver blood, and stepped into the cubicle. She turned the shower on, and the uncomfortably hot water ran over her aching body. The last drips of silver blood washed out of the wounds on her back, which had begun scabbing over.

The memories of the last month flashed through her mind, and she crouched down, a knot forming in her stomach. They flickered through their mind: the death of her fiancé; unending torture at the hands of vampires: and now one of them was out there, hunting her down. Tears spilled from her eyes, and she began sobbing uncontrollably. Skylar was dead, and he was the one person who had ever looked past her physical differences and treated her just like any other person. She had loved him with her entire body and soul, and now... Now he was gone. Her sobs turned to howls which she desperately tried to stifle, but to little effect. She had lost everything.

Lady could hear Lethys's stifled wails through the walls. She winced, wishing she could do something to help her. But she knew as well as anyone that the pain caused by demons is inconsolable. Her father was the one responsible for teaching her that lesson in life. She sighed, and began dialling the number for the pizza shop.

* * *

"You're... You're not a vampire?!" Seras shouted in disbelief. Dante looked back at her like she was stupid.

"Of course not. What on earth would make you think... Oooh, hang on, _that's_ why you're here? You came to kill me because you thought I was a vampire?" He asked, feeling some sense of explanation. 'So **that's** why they came.' He thought, almost relieved. His vision refocused, and he saw the girl looking terrified in front of him.

'If he's not a vampire, then what the hell is he? Integra is going to be furious... But... he's not human. He _can't_ be. What on earth is he?' She thought, trembling slightly. The fear of the unknown began to scare her, like when she had first met Anderson. The fact that he wasn't a vampire and yet was almost impossible to kill had frightened her right to the very core. And the fact that he had been trying to murder her certainly didn't help.

However this man, monster, whatever he was, hadn't tried to kill her, and had instead taken pity on her. Tried to help her.

She swallowed, looking back at the floor. Well, he couldn't be evil. Not as far as she could tell. So she'd just have to explain to her master that-

'Oh god. He'll be furious.' She sudden realised, 'I don't think I'll be able to stop him while he's like this!' Her eyes widened, and she looked up at Dante desperately.

"You have to get out of here!" She commanded suddenly. Dante tilted his head in moderate interest.

"You're the party crashers, and **I'm** the one who needs to get out of here?" He shook his head, "You may be cute, but I'm not going to be kicked out of my place by a couple of vampires. It's not how things work here." Seras rushed forward and grabbed his arm, attempting to pull him towards the door, oblivious to Dante's compliment.

"Please, my master isn't allowed to kill you since you're not a vampire, but I doubt he'll listen to me, and he will stop at nothing to make sure you're dead!" She pleaded, unable to budge Dante, who seemed more annoyed that she was kicking him out than anything. "Run away, Dante! You must never come out! No matter what, you must hide!" Dante looked at her, his face now showing shock. Seras shook him sternly, "Listen to me, Dante! No matter what! AAAGHHHHH!"

Seras let out the shriek as she was thrown the other side of the room by something large and black, slamming against the wall with a heavy thud, rendering her unconscious. Dante blinked in disbelief.

'My mother!' He thought, his mind racing, 'She spoke the exact same words as my mother before she...' Dante snapped to attention, and his eyes focused on the huge black snarling dog that was in front of him. All eight of its eyes were glowing crimson, and thick beads of drool dripped from its enormous, gaping mouth.

"Oh, what a good doggy." Dante grinned, his usual demeanour hastily returning. "It seems this dog knows how to play dead." He taunted, gesturing for the dog to come closer. The hell hound let out a snarl, and jumped at the devil hunter, its teeth ripping through Dante's body like a rag. Dante lay pinned down helplessly on the floor, unable to speak, while the dog tore him to pieces, and blood gushed from the wounds, coating the floor with even more of the thick scarlet liquid.

Seras regained consciousness, and watched in horror as the dog feasted on the now motionless proprietor of Devil May Cry.

"N-no! Master, he's not a...!" She stopped as the dog finished devouring the lifeless remains, morphed into shadows, and Alucard's human form returned, looking down on the man in disgust.

"Pathetic." He growled, his nose curled in disgust. "The fact that this creature is allegedly equal in power to me... I find that insulting." He barred his teeth and snarled. "And you." He turned to Seras, his face showing little more than rage and contempt. "How dare you try to convince him to run away? You're pathetic too. Sympathy? How... _human_." He growled the last word with such disgust and ferocity that Seras felt shame crushing her soul. She looked at the floor, as the shame built up and became anger.

"He wasn't a vampire." She growled in a way which, while mimicking her master, was for a cause entirely different than his. She looked up angrily at her master, "HE WASN'T A VAMPIRE!" She shouted, rage controlling her for the second time that evening. "He might not have been human but he wasn't a vampire! We attacked him for no reason, and Integra said not to-"  
"Shut up." Alucard ordered, his burning eyes locked on her own. "I don't care." He said bluntly, walking towards the door, ready to leave. Seras looked at the floor in disgust. 'How could he not-'

"Aw, don't be so cold. You've gone and hurt my feelings now." A voice called from by the desk. Seras and Alucard's attention quickly snapped to the base of the desk, where what was left of Dante lay. "And here I thought our relationship was getting off to _such_ a great start." The sarcastic voice continued.

The remains quivered. Muscles reformed. Bones regenerated. Skin rebuilt itself and stitched back together. Each and every bloody lump restored to its natural state, and before long Dante's body was completely healed. He jumped up, a small grin smothering his features.

"Well, dogs should be housebroken. I guess I'll just have to put this dog down." He said, crossing his arms, and tilting his head slightly, looking at Alucard with 'smug' written all over his features. "But, that'll have to wait. It seems your time is almost up." Dante said almost regretfully. He pointed towards the sun creeping over the horizon through the windows, and shook his head. "You vampires aren't on good terms with the Sun, or so I've heard." Alucard let out a small chuckle, his red clothes now back and his eyes now settled on a calmer shade of red, the glow having dissipated.

"For me, it is not an issue. But perhaps it would be wise to call this a day. Since you're not a vampire, it seems I may have to... prolong this little fight. But I do sincerely hope that we may cross paths again. You're an interesting opponent, _Dante_. I want to find out exactly what you are. And to what extent your power reaches. Until the next time." Alucard replied, removing his hat, which had reappeared, and bowing low. Dante responded with a quick nod of the head.

"Come along police girl. You need to get back before the Sun scorches you." He ushered as he and Seras left the blood soaked office.

Dante watched in slight bemusement as the vampire and his fledgling walked out of the alleyway and around the corner, before turning his attention to his office.

"Man, what a mess." He said, scratching his head. "Patty is gonna freak."

* * *

Har har har, and you all thought it was over XD

Nah, I have more brutality and guns and swords and shit planned for you all =D

Aaah, to be young and obsessed with demons.... :3

You guys can empathize, so it's all good ^-^ *happy*

Now I just need to find a way to incorporate Sephiroth and Vincent into this XD

Gee, I might just marry this then 3

*note: I'm not being serious, but god that would be so fecking epic I might start drooling*

Oh, and Abel Nightroad too :3 Gawd, Anderson would totally flip out at him

Anderson;; I'LL SHOW HIM DIVINE PUNISHMENT *starts waving swords around*

Abel;; But I'm with the vatican too... Heh, any chance of a cup of tea *starving*

Anderson;; SHADDUP YA VATICAN DOG-

Oh wait *mood kill*

Me;; *laughs like an idiot* Divine punishment XD You retard *snorts*

Anderson;; RAWR THAT'S NOT P.C. (politically corrects for 'jooh über n00bz' (yes, anderson is in fact a mega geek)) *starts waving around swords again*

Me;; *beats around the head with a mop*

Har. I made him unconscious. /win

*angry fan girls mall me to death*

Abel;; Tea...? Anyone...? ;-;

Er... *ahem*

Yeah, anyway, chapter 9 will be up soon. Expect developments on Lethys's story, and some other stuff which I'm presuming you guys care about ^-^

Which you probably don't XD

You;; Who the feck is that Lethys betch? Can someone kill her already? D:

Me;; NUH UH CUS I SAID SO :] Poetic licence ftw 3


	9. Chapter 9

A/N;;

I am so sorry for the massive delay with this chapter; time just flies like a fighter pilot on speed DX Anyway, I'm going to try and keep on top of this DX But meh, who knows, the chapters will probably take a while to be uploaded .

* * *

Just missing the scrapes of the sun's rays, Seras quickly rushed into the foyer, and sprinted towards the elevator, before jamming the button for the top floor. Alucard casually walked in, somehow keeping at the same speed, despite the fact that he had been walking at a normal pace. He slid in, the doors closing behind him, and the elevator hurtled upwards.  
The half a minute spent in the confined space was not one Seras would like to have repeated. Alucard was furious. That much was obvious. She could practically hear his blood boiling in his un-beating veins.

The elevator doors slid open, and the two vampires stepped into the penthouse. The curtains which had been framing the breathtaking view flew over the glass wall, and blocked the Sun's harsh grasp,  
"Thank you Master..." Seras said thankfully, throwing herself face first onto the couch, the harkonnen getting tossed somewhere to her right.

She shut her eyes, feeling the need for sleep quickly washing over her. She buried her face further into the cushion she had landed on, breathing in the clean linen scent, all of her muscles relaxing simultaneously.  
"Don't think that I closed them for you, police girl." his voice growled from across the room.

Seras looked up at him groggily. Yep, he was mad.  
"Sorry Sir..." she mumbled, shoving herself off the couch.

She was about to start walking towards the bedroom, when a loud roar made her stop in her steps. A large skeletal like beast charged out of the door, which Seras barely managed to dodge. The creature looked like a dinosaur's skeleton, but with glaring red eyeballs in the eye sockets of the skull. A cold breath was pouring out of its gaping jaw, and it was charging towards Seras.  
Before she had time to think, the beast's skull was blown to pieces, and the smoke coming from the Casull showed Seras that her master had been the one to fire the shot.  
"Police girl, you may have drunk blood, but it seems your instincts are as abysmal as ever." he said with a shake of his head.

After striding over to the creature, he nudged the splintered bones and dust with his foot. The eyes had also burst when the bullet had hit, and had mixed with the dust. A thick pink sludge had formed, and was now stuck to Alucard's boot. He sighed, and went to wipe it off, when he noticed that the sludge was quivering.  
The sludge somehow flew off his boot and latched onto his face, a hissing sound audible as it burned his flesh. Alucard cried out, the liquid actually causing pain, and gestured towards Seras. She was faster to react this time, and rushed to the sink to grab water. She grabbed a bowl, filled it, and sprinted over to her master. She chucked the water over his face, and the liquid dissolved, leaving a very scorched, annoyed and damp looking Alucard in its place.

* * *

The one thing Patty had always wished for, and yet always known would never happen is that one day she would walk into Devil May Cry, to see Dante cleaning. Maybe drinking a cup of coffee, eating some cereal instead of pizza, but most importantly, Dante wiping down his desk or throwing something into the bin.

So when she walked in to see Dante, mop in hand, washing the floors, she almost cried in joy.  
"Dante?" she shouted happily; half expecting she would wake up any second.

He replied with a weak nod, and continued mopping the floor.

"Dante, why are you cl-"  
"Not right now Patty. Last thing I need is you rubbing this in my face." he groaned, standing up straight and rinsing out the mop in the bucket of water he had next to his desk.

Patty took a step closer, and looked into the bucket. The water had been dyed a pale pink colour.

"Pink? Don't tell me you were redecorating." she wondered out loud, grinning contently. 'Cleaning and sprucing up the place? Could this day get any better?' she asked herself.  
"Don't get the wrong idea. I've gone through 8 buckets of water, and even now the mop's still turning out pink. It was red at 5 o'clock this morning." He grumbled, picking up the bucket with ease and taking it to the bathroom.

He returned with fresh water, and began wiping up the last traces of pink off the floor.  
"Red? Why what-"  
"I just had a surprise visitor last night is all. They didn't know their manners, and made quite a mess of the place." he replied, holding back a yawn.

Patty looked in confusion for a few moments, not sure what he meant. Then she smelt blood on Dante's coat.

"SOMEONE ATTACKED YOU?" she shrieked.

Dante nodded. Patty's face dropped.  
"S-so... this room was covered in b-blood?" she stammered, looking around the room with wide eyes. Dante nodded once again.

He managed to gingerly catch her as her legs crumpled, her consciousness slipping away, then placed her on the sofa, trying not to crease her new dress.  
"Damn Dante, if I didn't know better I'd say you actually had some paternal instinct." a man's voice called from the opened door.  
"Shut up Morrison." Dante said, stretching, trying to wake himself up. "What do you want?"  
"I'm here to take you to Lady's place. Unless you've already forgotten, you've still got work to do." Morrison snapped, his moustache bristling angrily.  
"Fine, fine. But what about Patty?" Dante replied, wiping his hands on his black leather shirt.  
"What about her? She'll be fine here-"  
"No. We'll take her with us." Dante cut in, walking over to his desk to grab his coat.  
" No? What's wrong with leaving her here? She'll be in more danger around you than she will here." Morrison replied sternly, lighting up a cigarette.  
"Last night a pair of vampires decided to pay me a little visit." Dante answered, shoving his arms through the sleeves. "I didn't get around to killing them, they left as the Sun began rising. If we're late getting back, they'll return, and then Patty will end up getting herself in trouble. If she doesn't pester 'em to death about dresses first, that is."  
"They attacked you? Didn't you get any info?" Morrison asked, his eyebrows shooting upwards.  
"They weren't with the ones who took Lethys. They were from somewhere else... They thought I was a vampire, and _that's_ why they attacked me." Dante replied, repeating last night in his head. "The younger of the two freaked out when she realised I wasn't one of them. She wanted to stop her Sugar Daddy, but he was far too bloodthirsty to care. It was only after he thought he'd killed me, and I pointed out the sunlight, that he chilled. I tell you, I don't get those creatures." Dante concluded with a shrug.

He shook his head slowly, before slinging over his shoulder the guitar case which contained rebellion. He holstered his hand guns, and then made his way over to the sofa, picking up Patty. "So, where's the car parked?"

* * *

Crushing the last of the creature's ancient bones under his boot, Alucard let out a small chuckle of satisfaction.  
"I've never encountered a creature like that before." he mused, watching happily from the sofa as his fledgling cleaned up the dust. Seras glowered at him beneath her fringe; he hadn't even bothered to say thank you.

'Unbelievable. There he was, flailing about like a goldfish in the desert, and he doesn't even say thank you when I help.' She thought with a mental sigh.

After brushing the last of the dust into the pan, she walked over to the bin and poured it in, some of it flying back up into her face, and making her sneeze.

"Police girl, leave that, I'll call room service to clean it up." He ordered from across the room. "Go and get some rest, our mission isn't over, and it seems to be taking an interesting turn." He continued, musing to himself with a small smile.

Seras nodded, oblivious, and tossed the dustpan and brush onto the counter. She nodded gratefully and made her way into the bedroom: heaved off the lid of her coffin; clambered in; replaced the lid; and close her eyes, allowing her consciousness to drift off.

Alucard was sat on the couch, pouring himself a glass of crimson wine. It sloshed quickly into the glass, and with one fluid motion he put down the bottle and picked up the receiver of the phone.

"Master..." he spoke, after having dialled Integra's personal number.

Through the speaker, he could hear the shuffling of paper.

"Well then servant, since you're calling me, I'll assume that you've taken care of him?" Integra replied through the phone.

Alucard could sense her relief, and couldn't help but grin as he prepared himself to announce the bad news to his young master.

"I'm afraid not, Sir Integra. It seems our target _isn't a vampire..._"he put extra emphasis on the new information, and listened intently for his master's response.

As expected, she let out a gasp of shock. He could hear he hand scrunch up whatever piece of paper she had been holding.

"What?" she asked, her voice now stern and worried.

Alucard leaned back on the couch, smiling to himself.  
"Yes, it seems Dante is far from being a vampire..." Alucard took another sip of wine.

"You don't know what he is, do you?" Integra asked, almost reading his mind.

"No. He's not human, but there's no telling what he is." He swilled around the last dregs of wine as possibilities flittering through his mind.

"Oh god- This is bad. Find out what he is, and if he truly is a threat. Good god, if the round table catch wind of this..." Integra mumbled on to herself.

A crash of a door interrupted Integra's ramblings, and a frantic Walter charged

in, following a stern elderly man in a suit.

"Please Sir Irons, Sir Integra is extremely busy..."

Walter tried unsuccessfully to distract the angry knight, as he stomped over to Integra's desk.

"Just one moment Sir Irons..." Integra placed the receiver on the desk softly, so that both Sir Irons and she were in audible distance to the phone. "So, what is it that you're here for?"

"Integra, where is your vampire?" he gazed at the blonde woman intensely, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why, he's dealing with some vampires in a town about an hour away from Wales. He won't be back for quite a while." she kept her eyes locked steady with his.

Lying wasn't something Integra enjoyed doing, but she was good at it when necessary.

"I see. So what was the reason for your private jet being sent to America then, Sir Integra?" he asked curtly.

God dammit, Integra thought bitterly, her mind racing.

"Integra, I sincerely hope that you haven't sent him over there. If he did anything... inappropriate" he looked at the phone, and spoke in a more clear tone, "He would come back to a very angry round table, and you, Integra, would be in a tremendous amount of trouble."

Alucard grinned, imagining the look on Integra's face.

"Well, it's just a good thing that he's not over there, isn't it?" she gave Walter a quick glance, before returning her stony glare towards the elderly man in front of her. "I believe it would be wise if you left now, Sir Irons."

He nodded his head in reply. "Yes, I believe I have over stayed my welcome." he replied, his gaze not shifting.

Walter moved around and gestured Sir Irons out of the doorway.

Integra waited for a short moment, before picking up the receiver.

"Oh my, it seems that you're in some hot water, Master." Alucard grinned, his eyes crinkling in glee.

"I won't be if you can keep yourself under control." she warned.

Alucard chuckled deeply.  
"Oh, but that's certainly no fun, my Master..." he drank the last mouthful of wine, "Losing control makes things so much more interesting." He placed the wine down on the coffee table with a soft thud. "And on that note, Master..." he drawled "I'm afraid that all of our donor blood seems to have disappeared, excluding that which Seras has already drank, and after that fight, I'm feeling quite thirsty. Oh what shall I do?"

Integra's grip on the phone tightened.

"Alucard..." she exhaled loudly "Alucard, what did you do with all of that donor blood?"

"Oh I'm sure I have no idea where it might be." Alucard gave an unconvincing performance, and his grin then widened. "Integra, you wouldn't want me to starve, would you? Just one person, that's all I'm asking. One insignificant, worthless little creature. I'll even make sure the body is dealt with..."

Integra felt her blood simmering, and leaned forward in her seat.

"Alucard, if you think I'm going to let you drain a totally innocent person-" she muttered darkly.  
"Oh, I'll make sure they're not innocent. Perhaps a criminal or someone who is carrying a gun. Surely they would deserve it." he continued.

"I don't care; I'm not going to allow you to."

Alucard's face fell into a frown, and he too leaned forward into his seat.

"Integra, I'm thirsty." he spoke quietly, while enunciating every letter. "I can either drain someone consciously, someone who at least deserves to die, or I can drain numerous innocent people when I've lost control. So, Integra, my Master. Which shall it be?"

Integra slumped back in her chair, and sat thinking for a moment.

The wristwatch she had put on that morning ticked ominously throughout the empty cave of a room. Scrunching up her brow, and rubbing the bridge of her nose, she took deep breaths of the air around her.

"Alucard... you're a monster." she muttered down the phone. "Just... make sure they deserve it. No innocents..." in a desperate voice, she repeated "please Alucard, no innocents."

"Of course not, Integra."

Alucard stood up, and stretched, growling slightly.

"Well then Master, what shall I do with Dante?"  
"Just... don't attack him until you find out what he is, for goodness sake. Go ask around or something." she returned to her irritated mood.

"Isn't this something which should have been done before we got here? My apologies master, but gathering Intel is hardly my field of expertise."

"Oh shut up, you have no right to question our methods. We have the address of Nero, go and find him and bloody ask. I'll arrange transport there for you, but for goodness sake don't start a fight."

"Of course, Master. I shall speak to you tomorrow morning."

"Good for you." Integra hung up before Alucard could reply.

Alucard put the phone down, and walked slowly into the bedroom. He phased through the coffin lid, and lay down, buzzing at the thought of a fresh meal.

* * *

Dante, Morrison and Patty, who was still passed out in Dante's arms, were stood outside, staring at the vault-like door which had been fitted onto Lady's apartment.

"You knock, my hands are full." Dante nodded towards Patty, a hopeless grin on his face.

Morrison rolled his eyes.

"You're so hopeless sometimes, you know that?" He grumbled.

He knocked three times on the door, and waited a moment. Lady called out from behind the thick silver plated door.  
"Who is it?" her voice was accompanied by the clicking of a gun.

"It's me and Dante... and Patty" Morrison replied, shouting slightly so she could hear him.

Slowly, the door opened as far as the chain would allow. A cobalt eye peered out, and, after confirming their identities, it withdrew to close the door and undo the chain. The door opened a second time, only now it was wide enough for them to enter.

"Well, I suppose I should've expected you." Lady shrugged, returning to the arm of the couch, where it appeared that she had been keeping an eye on the sleeping girl, who was curled in a ball and breathing unevenly.

Morrison and Dante shuffled over to the corner of the room, by the bedroom door, since it was the only area with space. On the coffee table, two pizza boxes lay empty, looking out of place in the snug little place. Lady jumped up to move them, before Dante could say a word. And he didn't say a thing. He just grinned contently, knowing that actions spoke louder than words, and his grin was certainly proving that right.

"Oh shut up Dante."

"I didn't say a word," his grin widened, "but since you clearly want me to, what's with the pizza boxes?"

"I said shut up."

"Hmph. Well you better have somewhere I can dump Patty, she doesn't need to hear all this." Dante nodded towards the passed out girl in his arms.

"Then why bring her?" Lady shoved off the arm of the sofa she had sat herself on, and opened the door to her bedroom slightly.

Dante walked into the boxy little bedroom, the walls of which were lined with various guns off all shapes and sizes, and the floor littered with small boxes each of which contained ammo to different guns. The bedside table had on various oils and cloths, most likely for the maintenance of her weapons, as well as a machete. With a swift swipe, he knocked the various bottles, the cloths and the knife off the table, and lay Patty down.

"Cus it's safer than leaving her on her own."

After a 15 minute silence, and awkwardly standing around, a whimper escaped from Lethys's lips, and was enough to stir her from her sleep. Wide eyed, and sweating frozen bullets, she gawped around the room, trying to place where she was.

"Oh..." she slumped back onto the sofa, pulling the thick, striped blanket which covered her around herself more tightly.

"Lethys, we need to find out who those vampires were." Dante calmly spoke as he sat himself on the arm of the couch close to her feet.

Lowering her eyes, she gave herself a moment to recompose herself, before returning her gaze to him with a determined nod.

"Just start from the top, and take your time. There's no hurry." Dante reassured her.

"Sure..." she took a deep breath, and began. "Well. It must've been about fifteen minutes after you left I suppose... I stayed around in case you needed any more info or anything, but since you didn't turn up, I thought it would be a good idea to, well, just to get some air really... Then... I think I went to a cafe or something, in the middle of town. Yeah... yeah, it was a little European styled cafe. I think it was called... um..."

"It's alright, don't rush." Dante repeated.

"La Boucherie?" Lady leaned forward, little worry lines knitting themselves together on her forehead.

"Yes! That was it... I'm sure it was." Lethys turned to Lady, nodding. "Yes, I think... Yeah, I stayed and had a coffee, then I decided to go back to Dante's office. But..."

"Tell me, did you feel strange afterwards?" Lady was practically dripping with agitation.

"w-well, yeah. I think I-"

"Blacked out." Lady finished, her forehead now resting on her palm. "Oh God... Dante, this is more than just vamps we're dealing with now."

"What do you mean?" Dante's own curiosity, which was rarely active, was peaked. "There something up with that cafe?"

"Yes. Something very up. A bunch of demons have been spotted around that cafe as of late," Lady sighed, shaking her head slightly, "They've been causing me nothing but trouble."

"Demons?" Lethys choked, her face wide eyed.

"Yeah, quite a few of my sources have mentioned demons at that place."Lady stood up, and looked around the room for something.

"Greeaat..." Dante groaned. "More damn work. And I'm not going to get paid for this, am I?" He looked up at Lady with a half hopeful expression.

"No. No client, no pay." she snapped.

Dante raised his hands defensively.

"Alright, alright, just askin'." He grinned at her.

Lady sighed as she picked up a gun off the floor.

"Isn't that a little dangerous, um, keeping a gun on the floor?" Lethys burst out.

Dante and Lady looked at her in shock.

"Uh... Well... Safety first and all," she chuckled nervously, staring pointedly at the floor again.

"Safety first? Pah, you gotta be kiddin me!" Dante laughed, leaning forward in his seat, "We're about to go face against a bunch of hell spawns, and you want a health and safety check?"

Lady and Trish looked at each other with smug grins, and Lethys let out a small sigh, letting herself relax.

"Yeah, sorry... I guess you're right," she mumbled quietly, smiling softly.

"No need to apologise kiddo." Dante grinned, jumping out of his seat.

"Right, we all going to that café together then? If there are anymore vamps out for the kid, they're not gunna do anything in the day."

"Dante, don't you think it would be better if we found out what we're up against?" Trish chimed in.  
"Quicker we kill 'em the better. No point in scouting, it's just wasting time," Dante grunted.

"Trish has a point." Morrison cut in, saying something the first time since entering.

Dante turned to look at him with his eyebrows raised.

"Listen Dante, you've said yourself you're not getting paid. If that's true, you've got no money to pay for damage you might cause. And I'm not bailing you out, you've got enough debts as it is," Morrison growled, moustache twitching.

"...Fine, whatever, I'll go there now."

"No, I'll go," Lady cut in.

"You against an entire building of demons? You're handy with a gun, but you're not that good." Dante scoffed.

Lady glowered at him from under her fringe.

"I'm just as good as you, and plus if they're demons they'll know all about you, Son of Sparda. Leave it to a human for once. If it's just a cafe then there'd be nothing strange about a human woman going in and ordering a drink. There is something strange about the infamous son of a traitorous demon waltzing in with a sword on his back," she snapped, fists clenched.

"...Fine then." Dante sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Good," Lady said with a grin, "Oh, and I'll go near the evening, more people bustle around in town during the evening, and if they're trying to blend in with normal humans, they're not going to try anything on me in public."

Morrison opened his mouth to object, before Lady held up a hand and cut him off.

"And yes, I will take a weapon with me. I'll take the Kalina Ann."

"Oh you'll blend in like any other average Joe." Trish laughed.

"Oh I'll make up something. It'll be fine." Lady smiled coldly back at her.

"Ladies, ladies, there's no need to argue... Unless it's with pillows." Dante grinned, his face lighting up.

"NO," they both snapped back at him.

"Fine, whatever. But I want a call tonight about this cafe." His tone dropped and he gave Lady a stern look.

"I'll call when I can." Lady replied, walking over to the door to open it up.

"Whatever, speak to you later." Dante sighed, flouncing out of the door and into the dingy corridor.

"I'll pick up Patty later to drop her off back home." Morrison gabbled, following Dante out of the apartment.

"Alright, see you soon Morrison!" Lady called into the corridor behind them.

She pushed the colossal door shut, and turned to her two guests.

"Well ladies. We've got time to kill." Lady beamed.

* * *

Creeping up from the base of the city, shadows were cast as the setting sun crawled miserably across the horizon, clinging on desperately to the last moments of the evening, and reluctant to give in to the night. The roads were once again jam packed, and a drizzle of rain was coating everything in a slippery layer of grey.

Lady pattered quickly down the road to the café, her boots splattering water with each step. Shielding her hair with her thin, cheap raincoat, she cursed the weather which had reduced her mood to tatters. Her prized weapon, the Kalina Ann, thudded against her back heavily with each step, and she cursed herself for not taking her motorbike.

'God damn Dante,' she thought to herself, 'if he had enough money to pay back any damage done, I wouldn't be here. So damn irresponsible.'

A few minutes later, she'd reached the café. It was a small building, wedged in between two other, larger buildings. It had a table and chairs outside, in front of the large window, and a small white door with a chequered ledge offering a little safety against the elements. A hastily scrawled note on the door made Lady want to kick it in. She let out a cry of anguish and punched the door in anger.

"CLOSED EARLY DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES?" she cried incredulously. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF EXCUSE IS THAT?"

She paced around the cafe for a few more minutes, cursing under her breathe, and more than once was tempted to destroy the door. Giving up, she clambered past the table and chairs, practically knocking them over with her gun, and peered in through the window.

Gloomy shadows had engulfed the floor, and all she could see was blurred silver light bouncing off of indistinguishable shapes. She grabbed her torch from her pocket and shone it in. The glass obscured the light, but she could definitely identify one thing.

Blood.

The light shone back, glittering crimson, and Lady hissed.

"Great. Just great," she sighed, shoving her torch back into her short's pocket. "I'm never going to hear the end of this."

She scooted past the table and chairs again, and flounced her way back down the road the way she came, indignant and fuming. Ripping her phone out of her pocket with rage, she jabbed in Dante's number, and shoved the phone against her ear.

"...Yeah, it's me." She growled, as Dante answered the phone.

"It's closed, due to 'unforeseen circumstances," she replied, storming down the road, glaring at the cars who drove past her. "Well of course I looked you dumbass...But..." She sighed loudly, and rolled her eyes, "I couldn't see much, but I'm pretty sure I saw blood in there." She veered to the right, choosing a drier short cut through one of the backstreets. "What, and get myself arrested for murder? Very clever, dumbass. Yeah, I'll break in and start inspecting bodies; yeah that makes me totally innocent. And when they ask what I was doing there, I'll just tell them that I was hungry and wanted a sandwich really bad. Yeah, you're right, I am such a terrible human being for not going in there." She stopped walking as Dante replied. "Oh, just go die in a hole," she spat down the phone.

"Tut, tut. That's not very nice is it?" Asked a man, growling it right into Lady's ear.

Lady span around, pulling out a pistol and holding it to the man's face.

"Wadda you want?" She growled back, her expression livid.

"Your blood." The man grinned back at her.

He smacked her phone out of her hand, it clattering onto the floor hopelessly.

"Lady? Lady, you there?" Dante's voice could barely be heard over the pattering rain and car's engines.

Lady didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, and a bullet ripped through the man's skull.

He fell backwards onto the ground, and Lady scoffed.

"Damn fool." She grunted, and walked over to pick up her phone. "Don't worry; it was just some- ARRGH!"

A heavy force hit the Kalina Ann, and Lady stumbled over, was pushed against the floor, held in place.

A hand, wearing a white glove with a strange symbol on it, picked up the phone. Lady saw the man's red sleeve and caught a glimpse of his crimson eyes and shaggy black hair out of the corner of her eye.

"Goodbye." He growled down the phone.

With a beep, he hung up, and tossed the phone back onto the floor.

"Now then," he lifted his boot off her gun, and yanked her up off the floor by the back of her collar, holding her in front of him, "where were we?"

"GET THE HELL OFF ME." Lady spat.

She shot him three more times in the head, but the man simply shook it off.

"Funny, a human speaking of hell like you know anything about it." Alucard chuckled, snatching her gun off her with ease, and crumpling the barrel in his grip.

"Funny, a demon talking out of his ass hole, thinking he's the hot shit when really he's nothing more than a plague of the earth. Why not go back to hell where you belong?" Lady hissed back at him.

"Oh, my dear," Alucard grabbed her by the hair and dragged her further into the alley, into the shadows, "you have no manners what so ever. I'm going to have to teach you some."

Lady stifled a yell of pain as her hair was almost ripped out. Her feet scrambled desperately against the floor but to no avail. She clawed at his wrists with her hands, but he did nothing more than chuckle at her feeble attempts.

Alucard growled in joy and let go of her hair, letting her fall onto the floor with a thud. Lady scrambled to her feet, and glanced around for the Kalina Ann. It was a few metres away, but the man was in her way.

"Who are you."

"My name is Alucard." Alucard smiled, showing his rows of pointed teeth. "And I'm feeling rather thirsty."

"You're a vampire?" Lady asked, shifting to the right ever so slowly. "And let me guess, I'm your next meal?"  
"Perhaps... Perhaps not." Alucard grinned, following her with his eyes. "If you kill me, then I won't be."

"But you're not exactly going to make it easy, are you?" She continued shifting, leading him on.

"No, not in the slightest." Alucard grinned.

He watched almost pitifully as his prey tried to slyly shift towards her gun. Her stalling tactics were obvious, and she thought he hadn't noticed.

'How human.' He thought to himself.

He followed her hungrily with his eyes, wanting nothing more than to tear her to shreds and soak in every last drop of blood. He read her mind. She was going to shoot him in the head with her spare gun, then make a dash for her rocket launcher. She was swearing like a sailor. She was pumped with adrenaline. And she was thinking how pathetic he was.

"But enough about me," Alucard continued, his smile faltering slightly, "tell me about those eyes of yours. I'm sure there's quite a story behind those."

"It's none of your business."

He could feel the rage in her veins flash, and disgust well up in her throat. She was thinking how the scar on her leg wouldn't heal. He flashed his eyes to the scar in question, and saw a large, ragged scar on her thigh.

"My, my, we've been in the wars, haven't we?" Alucard chuckled.

"SHUT UP!" Lady shouted, whipping out her other pistol.

Six bullets gashed into Alucard, three in his head, two in his chest, and another in his leg. Lady sprinted over to her gun. Alucard's knee buckled as the bullet tore through. Lady lept at her gun, and landed next to it. She seized it and span around.

"Wh-what?"

Alucard had vanished.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" She screamed, stumbling onto her feet.

Around her, black buildings towered, leaning in as if they were listening. Grime and graffiti covered the walls. Crumpled cans and potato chip packets were lying around uselessly. Shadows were splashed motionlessly against the walls, lingering like a bad smell.

A sharp noise behind her rang out.

She lashed around. She shot with her pistol until it was empty. The shells hit the floor with a clatter, and a cat scurried quickly further down the alleyway, away from Lady.

"Dammit." Lady cursed, releasing the magazine and reaching to grab another.

She grabbed the cold lump and raised it to slide it in the gun. Until she realised it was soft. And wasn't rectangular.

"Gotcha." Whispered Alucard's course voice in her ear.

Lady dropped his frigid hand like it had the plague. Alucard grabbed her wrists and span her around so she was facing him. With his other hand he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck.

"GET OFF ME!" Lady wailed, kicking him in the crotch.

"AHAHAHAH!" Alucard laughed at the pain, then squeezed his legs together, crushing Lady's against each other, stopping her kicking. "You're fun, for a human."

"You're especially shit, for a piece of shit." Lady choked out, struggling against his grip.

Alucard laughed a throaty laugh, and leaned in closer to her neck. He inhaled deeply. His eyes glowed crimson, which Lady saw when he lifted his head to look at her again.

"Get off me. You can kill me, but you won't get away with it." Lady breathed out, unable to stop a cold sweat and shiver escaping out of her.

"I can kill you and get away with it quite easily." Alucard smirked back.

Before Lady could reply, Alucard had slid his teeth into her neck. Lady choked, and blood gurgled out of her mouth. His freezing mouth clashed with the hot blood which was trickling out of her neck. She could hear him sighing in content as he sucked the life out of her. Trembling, she could feel her energy slipping away, and her eyes closed as a strange sensation of warmth spread through her, beckoning for her to sleep.

"LADY!" she heard a distant voice calling, before she let her consciousness seep away.

* * *

A/N;; DUN DUN DUN.

God, you've waited how long for that? I'm sorry D: I apologise profusely (Yes, I've learned a few words since the last time we met ;D)

And thank you for all the positive reviews! Thank you so much you guys! Nothing nicer than being bored in an IT lesson and reading how much people like your writing :3

And for those who said 'Dante can't heal that well' I do know where you're coming from, and I realised I went overboard with his abilities a bit, but I figured since he is the son of the most powerful demon, he's gotta be pretty powerful himself ;D And then went overboard D:

Sorry guys.

Anywho, I hope you like it :I Might be a bit shite and they might be a bit OOC since I'venot watched hellsing or DMC in forever xD

Oh, and the first half or so was written months ago, so if it's a lot different, that's why XD

Anyway, cheers guyzes 8D


	10. Round Two

Chapter 10

* * *

"L-lady?" Dante cried down the phone, after hearing a male voice say 'goodbye'.

Trish, who was sat in his office with him, shot off the couch. Dante stared at the phone, dumbstruck for a fraction of a second. Then time caught up with him again, and he slammed down the phone. Within 30 seconds he had grabbed his weapons and stormed out of his office. Trish stopped behind called Morrison, before making her way after the devil hunter.

Dante sprinted down the streets. He raced down the now sopping pavement. He stumbled more than once, his feet slipping on the saturated cobbles. His hair was clinging to his face and rain blurred his vision. Bouncing off his leather coat, the rain was coming down in sheets and people were racing around, trying to get home. Dante ploughed through them all.

"Hey, jerk!" shouted a few people as they got shoved out of the way.

Dante ignored them.

Dante finally reached the café, and slowed to a halt. He glanced around desperately for Lady.

"LADY!" he shouted out, earning some strange looks from passers-by.

He looked across the street, and noticed some red splotches on the dim pavement of an alleyway. Dashing across the road, and almost getting run over, Dante launched himself into the darkness. It was as sullen and dark as a moonless night, and at first all he could see was the little white glow of Lady's phone's screen. Then his eyes grew accustomed to the shadows and his heart stopped.

On the dank floor, lay the Kalina Ann, it's strap broken. Not far from it, he could make out Lady; a beam of moonlight cut through the buildings and illuminated her pale face. She was sodden from the rain. And then he saw the figured draped over her: its head was by her neck; a thin crimson line was trickling down and seeping into her white jacket; her hands were held behind her back by the figure's left hand and the other was yanking her head back. Falling in front of his face, his dripping, rain sodden hair concealed his features, but his glowing crimson eyes shone through.

"You're dead," Dante growled.

The figure looked up, dropping Lady on the floor like a rag. Dante's eyes followed her, frantic.

"No, she is," the figure grinned.

Dante recognised the face, and then noticed the small trail of blood coming from the side of his mouth.

"You..." Dante snarled, his veins burning with hatred and adrenaline.

He rushed over to Lady. He collapsed next to her and checked her pulse.

"Even if she is still alive, there's no way you'll get her to a hospital in time," Alucard growled happily , licking his lips.

"She's still got a pulse..." Dante sighed to himself, a miniscule wave of relief washing through him.

"Save the girl or get revenge. Such a decision is impossible for a creature to make." Alucard muttered from just behind Dante.

"IT'S A GOOD THING I'M NOT A CREATURE! I'M A HUMAN BEING!" Dante roared, his face red with rage.

Grabbing Lady, he stood up tall and kicked Alucard, who shot backwards into the wall. Tearing off a thin strip from his sleeve, he tied it around Lady's neck, slowing the blood which was seeping from the holes. He put his arm around Lady's abdomen, letting her slump against him, then with his free hand whipped out ebony.

Alucard had gotten up and dusted himself off by now, glaring manically at Dante.

"Come on. Shoot. Shoot me. COME ON!" Alucard was trembling with anticipation.

Dante stood for a moment. A crackle of lightning electrified the air, lighting up the alley. He crouched. Then he jumped up onto the roof of the building behind him.

"Take her to the hospital." He muttered to Trish, who was waiting for him.

"Of course." Trish replied, nodding and taking Lady gently from his arms.

Dante dropped from the rooftop, landing opposite Alucard, who's seal on his gloves were glowing, no doubt from a small release in his power restrictions. By now, the rain had really picked up. Billowing black clouds were clogging up the sky, cutting off the light from the stars. The moon occasionally peeked through. Silhouettes and shadows danced about, never settling. Around them people had cleared and had found shelter from the weather in their own homes. The roads were empty. The streets were empty. Alucard and Dante were the only two things which stirred.

"I'm going to send you to hell myself," Dante said quietly, "I'm going to tear out your heart, feed it to you, then destroy every last trace of your existence. Then when you're in hell..." He whipped out ivory and pointed both of his guns at Alucard. "I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!"

* * *

Seras stepped out of the car with a slight wobble, glancing up nervously at the crumbling apartment building in front of her. She looked back down at the little post-it note which she was clutching onto.

"Nero... Apartment 14... Right."

She patted her leg, checking her gun was still safe in its holster. It was.

Power walking a bit too quickly, she stormed into the building. The interior was as faded as the outside. Wallpaper was peeling, paint was flaking, and-

Seras shook herself. Last time she spent time gawping at the inside of buildings, her master had had enough time to kill the werewolf and set up a pointless riddle. But he wasn't there this time, so she had to pull herself together.

She flew up the stairs, and stumbled in front of the door. She paused a moment, and listened in.

"Nero, what's wrong?" A female voice asked, sounding concerned.

"I don't know... My arm... There's a demon nearby," a male voice replied.

Seras inhaled sharply.

'Demon?' she thought, reaching for her gun instinctively. Then she paused, and looked down at herself. 'Oh... right. It's me... Great.'

Slowly, she knocked on the door. Inside, she heard movement, but even after a few moments, no one opened. She knocked again. More movement, but still the door didn't open. Sighing, she opened it herself.

"Kyrie, I can't always keep you safe…"

They both looked up at the door, and the white haired man whipped out his gun, pointing it directly at Seras. Seras ripped her own gun out of its holster and aimed right at Nero's head. Nero looked at her suspiciously, but lowered his gun slightly.

"You're the woman who called?" Nero asked, moving to stand in between Seras and Kyrie.

"I work for her. I'm not here for a fight; I just need to ask you some questions." Seras said calmly, lowering her gun as well.

"...But you're..." Nero looked at her, then at his arm, then back to Seras again.

"I am a vampire, but I'm not here to hurt anyone." Seras said sincerely, putting her gun back, "See, I'm putting my gun away; I just want to talk."

Nero hesitated, then twirled his revolver around his finger and put it back his holster.

"Alright, I'll believe you," he jumped over the back of the couch, and slouched back, "Sorry for the lousy welcome, but you can't blame me."

"It's alright... So, um..." Seras played with her sleeve, "About Dante."

"I'll put on some tea." Kyrie said softly, gliding over to the kitchen.

"Okay, but Dante-"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you… Even though your boss woman let me know why you're so keen," he sighed with a small chuckle, "Dante's not gunna start killing people, you don't need to worry about him," Nero shrugged, "Well, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure he's a good guy."

Seras let out a sigh.

"Thanks, but you really should have said that a bit soo… ner..." Seras looked at Nero's arm, which was in a thick leather sling. "...I don't want to see nosy, but… What did you do to your arm?"

"Oh, well, I suppose I can show you," Nero grinned, lifting the strap of the sling over his neck.

* * *

Dante fired at Alucard and the bullets hit him right in the chest. Alucard stumbled backwards into the wall, before pulling out his twin guns. He fired two rounds at Dante. Dante flung his arms in front of him and the bullets hit an invisible wall and bounced off, not even touching the demon hunter. Alucard's face froze. Ignoring Alucard, Dante rushed in and ripped rebellion off his back. He jammed it right into Alucard's leg, splintering straight through the bone and into the wall behind him. Blood gushed from Alucard's wounds, spilling onto the floor and mingling with the cloudy rain water.

Glowing, Dante's arms were soon clad in silver metallic gauntlets, as were his feet. He pulled his arm back and smashed it into Alucard's face. Blinding light shot out of the gauntlets. Blood rushed out of Alucard's now broken nose. Dante didn't let up. His arms a blur, he hammered into Alucard, punching his head, his neck, his ribs, his stomach. Light flashed out, and Alucard let out a stifled roar. Dante tore rebellion out of Alucard's leg. More blood flooded out, staining the floor crimson.

"F-funny," spluttered Alucard, his eyes still manically happy and glowing, illuminating the blood smeared all over his face, "this is practically her blood you're spilling."

"I didn't give you permission to speak." Dante snarled, punching Alucard around the head and knocking him to the floor with a crack.

Alucard spat out more blood, some dribbling hopelessly down his chin. He licked it off his face with a grin. Looking at him in disgust, Dante jammed his glowing boot into Alucard's stomach. Bones crunched against each other.

"You'll have to try harder than that, boy." Alucard choked out.

He grabbed Dante's silver-clad boot, ignoring the hissing noise as his skin burned. Faster than could be followed by human eyes, Alucard had flung Dante high up into the air, and transformed his body into a tidal wave of shadows.

Snarling and writhing, the enormous black dog formed from the shadows, launching itself after Dante. Dante flipped in the air. Milliseconds away from getting ripped to shreds, he shot at the beast feet. He kicked the beast right in the head, but not before it had taken a chokehold on his leg, with it's razor sharp teeth, and they both went crashing into the roof of the building. Concrete smashed up as they landed. Chunks hurled off with the impact. Dante and the hound both scrambled off the sodden floor and onto their feet. The creature's colossal, gaping jaw lunged at Dante. It tore into his stomach and Dante winced as blood flooded out from both his abdomen and his shredded calf. Rearing back, the dog gathered momentum for another attack, blood flicking from its razor sharp teeth. It rushed in at the devil hunter. Dante moved his leg back, snarling with the pain, light beaming from the shimmering boot. Light burst out of it as the hellish dog was millimetres away from Dante. Blurring from the speed, Dante kicked the dog hundreds of times in the head, before giving one final kick with his other leg, and sending the yelping beast off the other end of the rooftop.

He quickly followed, the gauntlets disappearing, and instead an insect shaped quiver of glowing red swords appeared. Diving off the roof, Dante was soon fired at. Alucard was stood on the wall, resembling a writhing swirl of shadows, ignoring gravity and instead firing his guns mercilessly at Dante. Dante hissed as the blessed bullets left gaping holes in him. As he fell, he pulled out several of the giant pins, throwing six or seven at Alucard, lodging themselves in his chest and stomach. Dante pulled rebellion off his back. He fell onto Alucard and plunged the sword into his chest.

"You missed," growled Alucard's voice from behind.

Lucifer's pins exploded, and Dante looked in horror as the shadowed Alucard faded into nothing. Alucard grabbed his arm, span him around and his own arm lashed out at Dante's chest.

Hitting dustbins and old cardboard boxes, the pair collided with the earth with a sickening crack, as well as a smash as the paving stones underneath cracked and dustbin lids crumpled and clanged against each other. Alucard was first to rise, brushing himself off and walking away from Dante, who had not moved.

"Hmph, strange creature... Still," Alucard grinned as he looked back to look at the whole he had made in Dante's chest, "you were rather amusing."

Alucard blinked a few times as he looked at the crippled corpse of Dante. Or, lack there of.

Instead of the crushed body of Dante with his clothes in shreds, his body battered, tattered and bloody, and his chest missing its heart, there stood an all together different creature. Its body was covered in red, tough, scale-like flesh, and its chest was glowing yellow. Protruding from the base of its back, there were insect wings, resembling the tail of a coat. Spikes stuck out of its shoulders and some from his knees, and its face was grey, with a few small horns where stubble would be on a man. The eyes glowed a brilliant saffron, cutting through the darkness like a lighthouse in a storm.

"I told you," the creature spoke, its voice echoing on itself, sounding unearthly, "you're not allowed to talk."

Alucard turned his nose up at the creature.

"I see. So, you really aren't a man." Alucard's voice was thick with disgust. "How on earth do you plan on killing me then?"

"Easy. I'll rip out your filthy heart," the beast growled, his fury amplified by the inhuman sound of his voice.

"Oh, that won't do you any good now," Alucard grinned, his all of teeth turning razor sharp.

"Believe me, even if it doesn't kill you, it'll be revenge for what you did to her."

Dante's devil trigger form was engulfed in a writhing red glow, illuminating the new alleyway they had fallen into. Alucard grinned.

"Well, this isn't a very fair fight…" Alucard moved his hands in front of his body. "Releasing Control Art Restriction Systems three...two...one…Approval of Situation A recognized. Commencing the Cromwell invocation. Ability restrictions lifted for limited use until the enemy has been rendered silent." Alucard's twisted, pointed grin went from ear to ear. "Well, Mr. Dante, I believe it's time for us to end this charade of a fight. This is where the real battle begins."

Shadows licked the walls and around Alucard like flames as they slid out of him. Red, lidless eyes were bulging out of the shadows, their gaze never settling in one place. Casting their own crimson glow, the alleyway was soon coated in a blood red veil of light, from both Dante and Alucard, both of whom were fuelled with rage.

Dante rushed in first. Whipping out six of Lucifer's swords, he plunged them into the vampire's chest. He dashed backwards, and darted towards Alucard again, jamming in rebellion straight through Alucard. Alucard flew backwards. He pushed off with his foot and shot at Dante's chest. Three bullets hit Dante but didn't leave as big of a hole as before. Dante staggered over though, the pain from the blessed bullets amplified in his demonic form. A purple glow burst out of his hand and Pandora formed.

Stumbling out onto the street, Alucard howled as the pins exploded in his chest. He tore out rebellion and threw it to the side. Blood fell in torrents from the wound like a waterfall. He snarled, furious. Hundreds of gloved hands formed in the shadows and flew at Dante. Dante jumped back to dodge them, firing at some with Pandora's machine gun, causing them to dissipate. Some still reached him and ripped through his flesh. Dante raised Pandora, it becoming a massive rocket launcher. The missiles whizzed at Alucard. Alucard dived out of the way seconds before they hit him, and instead a building behind lost a large chunk of brickwork, smoke billowing from the impact.

Dante cursed and his demonic face winced as much as it could. Grabbing his ankle, one of the shadows pulled Dante onto his back and dragged him out of the alleyway. Dante roared and flicked his hand out to summon rebellion. He flipped over, and hacked at the shadows constricting and pulling him. Some writhed and hissed away from the demonic weapon, but more of the hands coiled around him, binding him.

Out in the street, Alucard could feel Dante's struggling against his shadows as they smothered him. For a small moment, the intense heat generated by Dante's devil form continued to radiate intensely, until the shadows snuffed out the warmth. Alucard grinned as he saw Dante's now cold, thrashing body being dragged towards him.

Grinning frenziedly, he grabbed the shadow covered devil hunter by the head, and lifted him up. He pulled his shadows away. Dante was still a shadow.

"You're not the only one with doppelgangers!" Dante hollered from behind Alucard.

With barely any time to react, Alucard just managed to spin around as Dante punched him with Gilgamesh, its spinning blades tearing into his face. Alucard flew backwards and crashed into a row of parked cars. Crumpling against each other, they were reduced to nothing but twisted bits of metal from the force of Alucard's impact. Alucard growled angrily and melted into the shadows. The shadows twisted and thrashed, and became a screeching, bloodthirsty cloud of bats. Dante swore loudly as they tore past him, battering against him and sending him hurtling down into an open man hole in the street.

* * *

Seras gawped at Nero's arm. It was deep red, with a glowing blue, ragged line leading all the way up to the back of his hand. His fingers were also blue and glowing, and the elbow bone was extended a short amount.

"Wh-what on earth…?" Seras spluttered, shifting backwards in her seat.

Nero rolled his eyes, and sighed. Pulling his sleeve down, he concealed his arm, and scooted to sit more comfortably on the couch.

"Well, this is what happens when you're related to a demon. Freaky arm crap," he complained.

Seras took a moment to take it in. Kyrie glided over to them, setting down a tray with a coffee pot full of steaming coffee, a small tea pot filled with hot tea. Also on the tray were a small milk jug and sugar bowl, as well as three plain mugs and spoons. She began to pour herself a cup of tea and then poured Nero a cup of coffee. Adding a splash of milk to each, she soon looked up with a small smile at Seras.

"Would you like tea or coffee?" she asked, scooping a spoon of sugar into her tea and whirling the spoon around without spilling any over the side.

"U-uh…" Seras looked from one face to the other, both with small smiles, yet their eyes melancholic. "…I'll have tea please… Us English and our tea, hehe…"

They drank their drinks in silence. Seras's mind was filling with questions and she was getting more and more edgy. Where they just acting civil but really planning on killing her? Was the woman a demon as well? And demons could produce offspring with humans? And why would demons choose to be with humans? She had barely had enough time to get to grips with vampires being real, never mind hell-demons. And now part demons too?

"Listen," Nero mumbled next to her.

Seras half jumped out of her skin because of the sudden noise. Nero sighed again.

"…Listen, just because my arms all messed up, doesn't mean you have to start freaking out. Your boss lady read all about me and the Order, so both of you know that I've been killing demons that have cause trouble for people. Just because I'm a part demon it doesn't make me a threat. Hell, that's just prejudiced." Nero smiled slightly, and Kyrie reached out and took Nero's hand.

"Nero really is a wonderful man," she said softly, her voice quiet and delicate, "and Nero saved a lot of people from being killed by demons. He's more human than anyone I know, and I would trust him with my life. Please," she looked Seras directly in the eyes, "You say you're a vampire, and yet you seem like a nice person," she smiled, "It's the same for Nero. He's got a good heart and wouldn't dream of hurting anyone unless it was necessary. The same goes for Dante."

"Dante's like you…?" Seras asked, suddenly remembering why she was there.

"Yeah," Nero shifted in his seat, his face lighting up a bit, "Somehow I'm related to him. His Father, Sparda, was a demon. Somehow I'm related to Sparda, so his demonic blood is what gave me this arm."

Seras took it in, pieces slotting into place in her mind.

"So… Dante's a demon… Wait, Sparda was the one who stopped an invasion of demons or something, wasn't he?" She asked, placing her tea cup back on the table and leaning in.

"Yes, he was the feudal lord of this city, but before that he rebelled again the Prince of the Demon realm and stopped demons taking over our world. He fought an entire army of demons pretty much single-handedly. Dante took on the family business I guess. He's had a fair few problems with demon invasions himself, or so I hear." Nero smiled, respect for Dante shining from his face.

"Yes. The filthy half breed scum has definitely killed a lot of us. Shame you don't both join the cause really. Getting rid of those pathetic humans would be SO much easier without having to kill off wretched do-gooders like you on top of it."

The three span around. A woman with glowing pink eyes, and toting a midnight black tracksuit was stood at the door. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, she pointed her hand in the direction of the three of them. Kyrie and Nero collapsed onto the floor and knocked the tray over on their way down. They wailed in agony as every nerve in their body seared.

Seras, unaffected, shot up, and pulled out her gun. She shot the woman three times in the chest. Coughing up blood, the woman stared in horror at the wounds, before her face became ferocious, her lips pulling back to revealed several rows of razor sharp teeth. Seras fired again and hit the woman right in the head. The woman keeled over faster than you could say 'head-shot'.

"Are you two alright?" She gabbled, dashing over to them to help them up off the floor.

Nero groggily propped himself up, then turned to look at Kyrie.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Kyrie, are you okay?" he said gently, pushing her up to sitting position.

Kyrie sighed, shaking slightly.

"Yes, I'm fine…" She muttered. "Oh!" She looked sadly at the upturned tray, tea and coffee and sugar and milk mingling on the flat surface then dripping off the table slowly. "…Oh, I'll have to get a cloth…" She mumbled.

Seras muttered goodbye and thank you and walked over to the corpse of the woman. Her face was still frozen in the blood thirsty grin as black blood trickled out of her forehead. Seras looked into the corridor. The silhouette of a man disappeared down the stairs. Creeping quickly but silently, Seras stalked the shadow, never too close to be seen, but never too far to lose sight. She followed him down the stair case and waited a moment before following him out of the door.

Stepping out into the rainy night, Seras didn't flinch as the fat drops bounced off of her. The cold didn't bother her. The fact that the man had disappeared did. Running out into the parking lot in front of the building, she glanced around. She smelled the air for his scent. She strained her already extra sensitive ears for the sound of footsteps.

Nothing.

The man who knew about the three of them meeting up had disappeared.

* * *

"I'm afraid she's not in the clear yet, she's lost a lot of blood, and infection could still set in," the male doctor said to Trish, scrawling on a clipboard. "Now, I'm not the police, but it would help us a lot if you and your friends here," he nodded to Morrison, Patty and Lethys, who had met up with Trish on the way to the hospital, "Could tell me how she ended up like this."

Lady lay pale and sweating in the hospital bed and was connected up to more wires and monitors than a computer. The holes in her neck had been bandaged up, and her arm in a cast; her wrist had been twisted when she was dropped onto the floor. Her bloodstained clothes were now replaced with a common hospital gown, and had it not been for the guns and knives which had been taken off her, she would've been just like any other patient.

Just outside the door, Trish wiped her brow, her face imitating sorrow.

"Oh doctor, it was awful," she said thickly, getting closer to the now blushing doctor "She said she was walking home, when we were talking on the phone, and then I heard this man talk to her. We rushed after her, and when we found her," Trish's voice dropped, becoming more husky than usual, "this horrible, brutish man had bitten her neck. I mean," she leaned forward, exposing more of herself, and the doctor desperately tried to keep eye contact, "Some tramps these days are just **filthy. **Wouldn't you agree?"

On one of the waiting benches, Morrison would almost have laughed, if it wasn't for Lady's condition. Patty was quiet. Lethys was jittering, looking fearfully at anyone who worked there, like they were going to tear her head off.

"W-well," the doctor choked, his clipboard suddenly becoming a lot more interesting, "You'll need to speak with the police, but," Trish stood up straight again, and the doctor sighed with relief, "We'll do our best for her. She's currently having a blood transfusion, so she should be alright… But like I said, it really could go either way right now."

"Thank you, Doctor." Trish sighed, genuinely smiling at him.

"DOCTOR!" Shouted a nurse some way behind the now relaxed Doctor.

He span around, and the nurse looked at him wide eyed.

"Come quick, she's gone into shock!" she gabbled.

The Nurse shooed Trish away, and they, accompanied by a couple of other nurses, rushed into the room. Morrison's hands grasped each other, holding each other steady. Patty's eyes were welling up, and she turned to the wall, swallowing the lump in her throat. Trish stood speechless for one of the few times in her short life.

* * *

Dante was back on his feet as Alucard dived into the man hole after him. Ducking as he sprinted through the narrow and low service tunnels, he could hear Alucard cackling behind him.

"RUNNING AWAY?" Shouted Alucard's manic voice, echoing through the tunnel. "HOW SAD!"

Dante cursed under his breathe, but was thankful he'd been down here before on more than just a few missions. He knew the tunnels like the back of his hand.

Careering into a shaft on his left, Dante splattered along through the dankness, and exited into a large opening, where the ceiling was quite a lot higher. It was a circular room, with water dripping down from above every so often, no doubt caused by the rain. Stagnant water sat on the concrete floor. It wreaked of mould and dampness and waste.

Alucard soon joined him with his hair long and toting his strapped up jumpsuit once again. Dante looked at him pitifully. He was covered in blood, shadows writhed around behind him, swirling more and more out of control, and in the dim light all that could be seen of his face was his frantic eyes boring into him.

"Look at you. You're just a monster." Dante said quietly.

Returning to some level of sanity, Alucard's face fell and morphed into a serious look. His shadows now writhed in fury rather than bloodlust.

"And what about you? You're some sort of shape shifter or something I suppose? Not completely human anyway. You're just as much of a monster as me, so don't act all self righteous with me." He growled back.

"Hmph, I'm more human than you." Dante snapped, "I never gave up my humanity. I was born like this, and I've never killed anyone for my own selfish needs. And I still have a soul, which is more than I can say for you."

"You know nothing about me," snarled Alucard.

Dante actually laughed.

"Oh, so that still makes it okay to attack young women in alleyways? Seriously, I don't need to know you, I've got you figured out. Traumatised childhood or some crap like that, right?"

Alucard didn't reply. He simply shot Dante in the head. Dante keeled backwards and lay still on the floor. After a short moment, he was back on his .

"I'll take that as a yes," Dante coughed, pulling the bullet from himself.

Alucard stood motionless for a moment. Then something caught his attention, and from his shadows he picked out his phone. Dante laughed to himself, sitting down for a moment's rest.

"Police girl…" He growled, "Just get back to the hotel… THAT'S AN ORDER." He hissed he last part with more fury than he had shown all night, his nose wrinkling in anger.

Dante picked himself up off the floor using rebellion as a crutch. Alucard took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.

Dante's own phone began buzzing, and Dante could have laughed. "Trish, what's happening?" He asked, suddenly remembering about Lady.

"She's gone into shock Dante. They don't know if she'll pull through. Please, I know you want to kill him, but you have to be here for her. She might d-"

"Okay. I will." Dante said quietly. He looked up at Alucard, who was in the same lacklustre mood as he. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he turned back to human form. "Looks like we've both got things to get back to. But, this isn't over. I'm going to kill you, you know," Dante said in a low voice.

Alucard looked at him with steady eyes, having shifted back to his normal self. He let out a low laugh, before melting into the shadows. Dante could have sworn he heard him say 'Don't be so sure about that,' before the chamber was completely empty.

Dante was at the hospital within 20 minutes, and collapsed onto Trish, half hugging her, half using her as a crutch. Once he had enough energy to pick himself up, he looked at her square in the face.

"How's she doing?" Dante asked, trying hard to keep composed.

Trish barely knew how to react. Shrugging, she gestured with her hands a bit, before sighing and sweeping her hair back some more.

"…Honestly? The doctors are seriously worried. Every time they get her stable, and she seems to be doing okay, she'll just snap and go back into shock again. I don't know why. This doesn't happen usually with vampire victims. Blood transfusions are usually enough to set them straight."

Dante frowned, an unfamiliar expression for him.

"Hey there Dante," Morrison said, standing up and patting him once on the back.

"Morrison." Dante grunted in reply.

"Dante," Morrison said in a low voice, "I know you're worried about her, but you need to tidy yourself up. You've got blood all over you, and you look like you slept in a dumpster for a week. Go have a wash in the toilets or something."

Dante glared up at him from under his brow. Trish hit Morrison on the arm and glared.

Dante skulked off the toilets, feeling exhausted. He swung open the door, and walked into the small toilets. The sinks were on the wall opposite the door, and he made no delay in filling the closest one up with cold water. Splashing the water on his face, the blood began washing off, tinting the water pink. After his face looked clean enough, he dunked his head in, soaking his hair, and turning the water a more crimson shade.

Pulling his head out of the now murky water, he felt the cold stinging against his eyes, waking him up, and making him more alert. Cold water dripped from his hair onto his coat, collecting more and more red as they tricked down. Once they reached the floor, they were completely sanguine.

He looked at himself in the mirror, and, feeling much better, shook his head to get the water off, and did a half-arsed job of wiping up the mess off the floor. He quickly returned to the waiting room, where he wasn't being gaped at by the patients and relatives waiting in there quite as much, and gave Morrison a grateful smile.

"Believe me," Morrison smiled back, "I did us all a favour."

"Ah, you must be her boyfriend," the Doctor said, coming out of Lady's room.

Dante gave Trish a quick glance. Trish just shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Dante sighed, "How is she?"

"Please, sit down," The Doctor said.

Dante did as he was told.

* * *

WOO! Ten chapters 8D

It's an achievement. Kinda xD

I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm not too sure of it myself xD

There might be a few mistakes, since I wrote this ages ago, and kept changing things every so often. If there are, I apologise.

Thanks for reading 3 And for all your reviews 3


	11. Free

Chapter 11

Integra stormed through the foyer of the hotel, with Walter scurrying quickly to keep up with her. Integra had a face like thunder, and people scooted out of her way as she marched along. Walter gave them apologetic nods.

Bashing the button to the Penthouse, Integra wasted no time in scowling at the other passengers in the elevator.

"Bad day, huh?" Asked one businessman.

"Don't you dare try and empathise with me," Integra hissed, "You have no idea of the meaning of a 'bad day'."

The businessman gave a startled look, before turning and staring at the wall in a huff. On the next floor, he stomped out, and the other people shifted away from the ferocious woman.

The other people filtered out as they went up the building, until eventually they reached the Penthouse. Integra shot out of the elevator towards Alucard.

"YOU STUPID ARSE!" she screamed at Alucard, hitting him around the back of the head, "WHAT THE HELL STUNT WERE YOU TRYING TO PULL?"

Walter spotted Seras. She scampered over to the elevator, and he pressed the ground floor button.

Alucard looked at Integra with a bemused look.

"Well, I was interrupted. Apparently Dante knew that woman," Alucard purred.

"Have you ANY idea of how much trouble you've landed me in?" Integra's words escaped from a clenched jaw.

"How was I to know that it would end up being filmed?" Alucard said in a mock-innocent voice, his eyebrows shooting upwards.

"I told you not to fight him, I TOLD you to leave it until Seras was finished with Nero. Now we've had to BREAK INTO A MASSIVE NEWS CORPORATION in order to get back the FOOTAGE of YOU getting BLOWN UP."

"Well, I was-"

A ping from the elevator interrupted him, and they both swivelled around to look. Rather than see Seras and Walter, a man with a mop of brown hair which covered most of his face, clad only in black, was stood in the elevator.

"I'm afraid to have to tell you," he said in a calm voice, "But I'm here to kill you both."

Alucard scoffed, and Integra rolled her eyes. Alucard whipped out the Casull and shot him in the head, and the man crumpled onto the floor like a rag doll. Integra tilted her head towards Alucard with a disapproving look.

"See? This is exactly my point," she sighed, "Never mind finding out WHY he wants to kill us, just kill him first. That's fine."

She lit up a cigar. Alucard put his gun back. The man stood up again.

"While I'll admit that those bullets hurt, I think you'll find that they haven't left any lasting damage," he muttered, wiping himself down.

Alucard stood up and placed himself in between the man and Integra.

"Fine, I'll try it your way," he said over his shoulder to Integra, "Why have you come to kill us?" Alucard asked with little enthusiasm.

"You're not supposed to be here," the man replied with just as much emotion, "Your vampire killed one of our people, so now you're a threat and must be disposed of."

Behind Alucard, Integra chuckled.

"I don't know what kind of cult you're in, nor what your motives are," she stubbed out the cigar on the sofa, and her face turned serious, her eyebrows knitting into a frown, "But I won't allow you to put my people in danger, whether they're vampire or not,"

The man tilted his head and looked at her in a bit more interest.

"I don't believe a mortal has the right to talk about danger, or the safety of the undead."

"Excuse me," Alucard said with a small smile playing on his lips, "but how we end this conversation? I don't care much for democracy."

The man's face moved fractionally close to a smile. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pair of gloves. He put them on. Alucard nodded towards the bedroom, Integra sighed, and stalked in, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Trish and Dante stood outside the café, which was cut off by police tape.

"…Well. This sucks," Dante sighed. "Any chance of you using your 'womanly ways'?" He asked, raising an eyebrow coyly.

"About as much chance as Patty getting a sex change," Trish replied with a grin.

Dante snorted, but the smile quickly faded as a body bag was zipped up just in front of him.

"…We really need to check out those bodies…" Trish muttered.

"Excuse me, sir? My name is Vanessa Jones. I work with the FBI. I need to see the victims," came a familiar voice behind them.

Trish and Dante span around, and Lethys was stood, brandishing an FBI badge with her face and the name she had just given on. The officer zipping up the bag squinted at the badge, before muttering under his breath and unzipping it again.

"It would be better if you looked AFTER the autopsy, but I guess I don't have much of a choice."

"Thank you."

The officer shuffled off, and Lethys gave a half grin.

"Well. Are you going to look or not?"

Dante and Trish exchanged glances, then, with a shrug, ducked under the tape, and crouched by the body.

"…He stinks," Dante grunted, looking away from it, and pinching his nose.

Trish gave a side glance, and sighed heavily.

"Yes, well that's because he's DEAD, Dante. Dead people do TEND to smell."

"From the state of his body," Lethys cut in, crouching as well, "He's been dead for a couple of days. If he'd died last night, then he'd still have rigor mortis, but look," Lethys picked up his arm and let it drop, "No stiffness."

Dante gawped at her.

"Uh, when people die, they go stiff for about 3 days or so," she muttered, standing back up and wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Well, well. Little miss scientist. I like it," Dante grinned.

Trish dug her elbow into Dante's ribs, and he wobbled on the balls of his feet, almost falling on the body.

"So, you're FBI?" Dante asked her, trying to avoid Trish's glare.

"No," Lethys said, lowering her voice, "This is a fake badge. Skylar was the one who made it me."

"Why'd he do that?"

"Well… It's not particularly easy being 'different', as you should know," Lethys quietly chuckled, her eyes staring at the floor, "So, this was my safety net, in case anyone tried to, y'know, do experiments, or abduct me or whatever… "

Dante gave a simple nod, in understanding.

Trish, who wasn't really listening, grabbed the wrist of the dead man, and lifted his arm high up.

"…His arms are rather long, don't you think?"

Lethys and Dante looked at her, and then the arm. Then back at Trish.

"Well, some people do have long arms-"

"Even so, these are really quite long. His legs too. And look," Trish pointed at his wrist, and then at his elbows, "His joints, they're bruised."

Dante and Lethys gawped at her.

"So what?" Dante asked, after a pause.

Trish sighed.

"What do you mean, so what? Go check the other victims, see if they're the same."

* * *

Alucard grinned, and pulled the trigger of the gun once more. The bullet fired out, and hit flesh.

"I do hope my little 'attempt' at democracy didn't bore you," Alucard growled happily, walking closer to the man, who was collapsed on the floor.

"Not at all," a voice behind him called out.

Alucard span around, and saw the man behind him, his just visible mouth grinning manically. Alucard glanced back down at the body on the floor, and saw Seras there, clutching at a gaping hole in her chest.

"WH- What?" He choked, lashing around back to the man, and firing off six rounds.

The six bullets landed in Integra's torso. The man laughed, from next to the fridge.

"N-no… NO!" Alucard roared.

Integra stared down at herself, watching the blood rush out, before falling to her knees, and face forwards into the ever growing puddle of her own blood on the floor. Alucard choked, before staring back at the man, his eyes wide.

"Oh dear," the man said in a monotone, though he was stilling grinning, "Your aim is a little off."

Alucard wasted no time in unlocking his power levels, and transforming into the hell hound.

The man swept his hair backwards, revealing his eyes, which were pure black, and his sockets had burn scars pulling the skin tight around his eyes, making them look as if they bulged out of his skull.

"From one hell spawn to another," he said, his voice still remaining completely level, "It generally isn't wise to go shooting people who are on your side, you know."

The hell hound snarled, and leapt at him, its teeth tearing through him with ease.

Alucard looked back at the corpse once he felt it had been sufficiently mutilated, and felt his chest tighten.

"Walter…" He half whispered, looking down at the comrade who was lying there with wide eyes, and his torso completely ripped to shreds.

"So clumsy," wafted the man's voice.

Alucard's shoulders dropped, and his eyes widened. Walter nodded, and Alucard put a bullet between his old friend's eyes.

"Well. That was nice of you, putting him out of his misery like that."

Alucard turned around. The man had disappeared.

He looked at Integra, who's once platinum blonde hair was now matted with her own blood, then to Seras, who's limp hand was rested over the hole where her heart would have been. Alucard couldn't bring himself to look at Walter again.

After moment, the sudden realisation of his freedom set in. The corner of his mouth pulled upwards. And then the laughter started. Cold, cruel, merciless laughter, which rang throughout the room, bouncing from the walls, and reverberating back on itself. His entire body racked with laughter. Bloody tears of joy seeped from his eyes, spilling down his face. His eyes glowed, and his teeth grew jagged, as he no longer had to hold himself back.

Alucard was completely free.

* * *

"Yeah, they're all the same, Miss Smart-ass. So what does it mean?" Dante asked, after a quick lap around the other bodies.

"I'm rather confused myself," Lethys mumbled, scratching her arm nervously.

Trish looked up at them both, and then back down at the corpse. She flipped it over, and pointed at it's back.

Dante and Lethys reeled back, and their jaws dropped.

"That is… Jesus, he's got a hairier back than my Dad," Lethys gabbled out, before her cheeks flared up, and she stared at the floor.

Dante looked at her.

"We went to a public swimming pool once. It was awful," she said after a moment, looking back up at him with a little smirk.

Dante snorted, before he shook his head in disbelief.

"Well, that was something I didn't want to know," he grinned back, before looking back down at the profusely hairy man.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't figured it out?" Trish snapped at them.

"Er, they accidentally, brutally slit their own throat while shaving?" Dante chuckled, giving Lethys a sideways glance.

"The blade would've snapped the second it touched his hair," Lethys grinned back.

"AHEM," Trish coughed, glaring up at the pair of them.

"Sorry," Dante beamed, with zero sincerity.

Lethys looked down at her feet, still smiling.

"Now that you two are done," Trish frowned, "I think these victims are werewolves."

A couple of forensic guys turned around and gawped after hearing the word, but shrugged it off after a quick glance at Trish, who had a dark glower on her features.

"Weres?" Dante crouched down to speak to her more quietly, "You've got to be joking. As long as I've been hunting, I've not once crossed paths with a werewolf. Aren't they extinct or something?"

"If you've got a better explanation, I'm all ears."

"…Well, Lady said they were demons didn't she? Maybe this is just how these kinds of demons change when they die?"

Trish raised an eyebrow.

"You know as well as I do that if these were demons, they would have transformed into their true form to protect themselves if they were about to be murdered, and this crime scene would be swarming with government officials, trying to cover it up."

"So, Lady was wrong?"

Trish frowned.

"I don't think she was, no."

"You're talking out of your ass, Trish," Dante shook his head, "You're making less and less sense each day."

"Listen Dante, Lady has never lied, and very rarely been mistaken before, and I for a fact had heard the rumours about this place having something to do with demons, so we know that's a fact,"

"Right, but you just said that these are Weres, so-"

"They changed," Lethys cut in.

Dante looked up at her, and Trish nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I think. Somehow, the were demons changed into Weres."

Dante gawped at each of them in turn.

"Okay, now you really are talking out of your ass. Nice as your ass is, it doesn't talk sense," Dante half sighed, half laughed.

"No, it makes sense to me," Lethys crouched down too. "If we know they were demons, and now they're Weres, there's no other explanation than that they have changed."

"But that's… That's not possible."

"It has to be," Trish said in a tone that made it clear that the debate was over. "Now, we have to find out who did this, and fast. If they catch wind of what we're doing, we're all in danger."

"Well, isn't it possible the demons got sick of doing their demon shit and turned into Weres to kill themselves?"

"No," Trish said, "Look." She picked up a knife, covered in blood, in an evidence bag. "The handle, it's crushed."

"Right, and...?"

"Well, it means whoever stabbed them with the knife had a lot of strength, but not much control over it. Were's aren't as strong as demons, so if a demon had turned into a were, it would find itself weaker, and therefore still have control over its strength. If a were turned into a demon… Do you see where I'm going?"

"…They made themselves into demons. Right. So, they can swap people's, er, supernatural shit?" Dante raised his eyebrows.

"Looks like," Trish sighed.

"Oh dear… That's never good," Lethys said solemnly.

* * *

Seras was sat with Walter in the foyer, in a shaded bit near the back, on one of the couches.

"Do you think the Round Table are going to punish Integra?" Seras asked timidly.

"I suppose so. Though, I think Alucard's going to get it a lot worse," he smiled, taking a sip of his tea.

Seras sighed.

"Y'know, Dante was really quite nice." She sighed, stirring her own cup.

Walter gave her a half glare.

"Miss Victoria, there is still a possibility that he's dangerous. He is a demon after all. He could have just tricked Nero."

"Like Alucard does with most people he's ever met, before killing them?" She snapped, and then found herself half choking.

Walter stared at her.

"Um… I'm sorry. I think I'm just tired. I'm just going to freshen up a bit," she said quietly, scurrying off to the bathroom.

Walter shook his head, and then felt his phone vibrate in his waistcoat pocket.

"Yes, Integra?" He instantly answered, putting his cup down.

He stood still for a moment, before his face contorted with shock.

"Yes Sir, I'll be up right away."

Hastily, he scrawled a message for Seras on a napkin on a table, and rushed into the elevator, and up to the penthouse.

When he reached the penthouse, Walter saw Integra leaning over Alucard, who was passed out and shaking violently on the sofa, like he was having some sort of fit.

"Walter, quick, there's some blood packs in my suitcase. Grab some. He might be reacting to a loss of blood."

Walter frowned, but did as he was told. With the grace and speed which was not often seen in men of his age, he fished out several blood packs, and rushed over to Alucard, who Integra was desperately trying to keep still, her hands gripping his arms with all of her might. Though, Alucard's strength, even in unconsciousness, was far superior to her own, and he continued to writhe and snarl.

Walter tore them open, and the blood poured over Alucard, mostly on his face, rather than his mouth. It made no difference however, as the blood soaked into his skin. After a moment, the writhing seemed to stop, and he settled, his face calming, and giving him the look of one who was sleeping.

"What happened, Sir?" Walter asked, after a moment to make sure he wasn't about to start again.

"I don't really know. I was shouting at him, as I have every right to do, when all of a sudden he turned and stared at the elevator. There was nothing there, and I called his name, but he wouldn't listen." Integra sighed. "Then he turned to look at me, and he looked… He looked so smug, like he'd just won something, like he was triumphant in some way. And then that was when he collapsed." She laughed, "You have no idea how difficult it was, dragging him onto the sofa. He's a heavy bastard."

Walter give a smile.

"Well, I'm afraid Sir that this doesn't sound like a side effect of blood loss to me. Obviously, that was a factor, but I don't believe that's the real root of this."

"That what is, Walter?" Integra asked, her voice a fraction quieter than normal.

Walter shook his head.

"That I can't say, Sir."

Seras nodded with a smile to the cleaner, as he chucked the used napkins and teabags into the bin, and took the cups away. She looked around for Walter, but her was nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, hello little lady," a liquid smooth voice dripped behind her.

She craned her head around, and looked at the man. He looked about thirty, with his brown hair practically ripping the skin of his face off, it was pulled so tightly back into a ponytail. He was wearing large black sunglasses, and a thick coat which covered most of him.

'Jeez, he looks like a cheap rip off of Master,' Seras thought, trying her hardest to keep a straight face.

"Can I help you?" Her voice cracked with the effort of suppressing a laugh.

The man tilted his head ever so slightly, then shook it.

"Yes, you may. I need you to come with me somewhere."

"Somewhere is awfully vague," Seras said with a smile which was desperately trying to hold back a snigger.

The man grinned a toothy grin, then pulled his glasses down, revealing blood red eyes.

"I have your friend, Walter. If you don't come with me, I'll chew through him like a rag."

Seras froze, and looked at the man with wide eyes. She looked down, and then back up at him. She tried to send a message to her master with her mind. She didn't know how, exactly, but hell, it was worth a shot.

"Ah, ah, ah," the man growled, waggling a finger, "Don't do that. Would want me to make your master watch as I destroy his old friend, would you?"

Seras growled under her breath, but nodded, cutting off the mental tie.

"Good girl. We'll be leaving through the underground car park. Neither of us would benefit from going outside on such a glorious day as this."

Holding his arm to the side, he gestured for Seras to walk towards the door to the car park. Stiffly, she made her way towards it, being closely stalked by the vampire.

Once they reached the car park, Seras glanced around.

"So…? What now?" She asked, her voice acidic and her face scowling.

"You get in there," he rumbled, pointing to the boot of a large Buick, which was black, and polished so clear you could see your face in it.

Seras hesitated, but eventually clambered in, hissing as she realised the inside was lined with silver. The pain was unbearable, searing into her flesh. She stifled a scream, feeling the pain overpower her, and all too soon, her vision faded, and she let the darkness wash over her.

* * *

Lady was irritated. Her arm itched where the IV was. She couldn't take it out though. If she didn't have the blood pumping down the tube and into her body, then chances were that she would be turned. To die after being drained by a vampire would do that to you, her internal voice warned.

She didn't like that internal voice. It spoke harsh truths.

Closing her eyes, she let her consciousness fade somewhat, hoping to dull the pain in her neck, and suppress the horrible feeling which spread through her body; her veins pleading to be filled.

She shivered unexpectedly, waking her from her drowsy state. Burying her head further under the thin sheet, she attempted to fall back into semi consciousness. A finger pulling the sheet back down woke her up pretty damn fast.

Alucard was looming over her.

Scrambling in an attempt to get away, Lady was quickly pinned down by Alucard's iron grip. He smirked wickedly, so close to her face. He slid his leg between her legs and pinned her arms to her sides, and she was unable to get out from under him.

"I have to say, I am rather shocked that you're still alive, girl," he breathed, in her ear.

"Fuck you!" Lady spat, her face a throng of lines and fury, as she lurched to try and displace him.

Alucard let his full weight rest on Lady. Her chest was crushed, and she could barely breathe.

"Get." Lady spluttered. "Get off me," she wheezed.

Alucard watched her. Though she was strong for a human, she still writhed pathetically underneath him. Struggling to keep them back desperately, she was unable to hold back furious tears.

"I hate you," she cried, spitting the words, turning her face away from him.

"I know," he said softly. "But I'm here to change that."

Lady lashed her head back to him, eyes wide.

"…No."

"Yes," Alucard uttered, his voice emotionless. "You know what I'm going to do."

Lady shook her head, beating his arms with her curled up fists.

"I don't want to die," she murmured, in a small, quiet voice.

"Neither did I," Alucard assured, bowing his head to her neck.

Lady carried on writhing, even as Alucard's fangs tore into her fragile skin.

'_This time, I'll drain you completely,' _floated Alucard's voice in her mind. _'You'll be mine forever. Mine to drink from when I see fit. Mine to pleasure or torture as I wish. Mine to set against those you once loved. You'll be all mine.'_

Lady let out a choked sob, feeling the life drain out of her once again, unable to fight back.

'_Oh yes, Mary. I have a lot in store for you.'_

* * *

A/N;;

Dear GOD how long have you been waiting for this?

Too long, I suppose :|

Let me explain; I started this entire fan fiction with very, very little planned. I had no plot in mind and it was all just done on the fly. Then a couple of chapters in I got a little bit of a plan, so I found it easier to write. Then I forgot everything, so it was hell again. I _finally_ managed to remember the whole plan and whatnot, so here you are XD

Also, I have word again, rather than shitty Microsoft works, so I'm feeling more of a writing groove.

It's safe to say I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but from now on there's gunna be more actual character mixing, and the plot will actually do something.

god I suck at plotlines. really. It's dire.I prefer to right random, unlinked events. Nevermind. Hopefully you'll bear with me :B

**I HAVEN'T PROOF READ THIS PROPERLY YET, **but I have to leave in ten minutes for a statistics exam. I've done no revision. FML.

I'll check it when I get back. Don't be hatin'.

**[e] well**, it's been kind of proof read xD And the exam went horribly. So all in all,

actually, I don't know how to finish that sentence.

In other news, the first 9 chapters I wrote on my old computer, which is currently in a dreadful state of being shit, and so I've had to download them onto my iPod.

MY WRITING WAS TERRIBLE AT THE BEGINNING, WHAT IS THIS?

Let me know in reviews or PMs if you want me to rewrite them.

Oh, and I love anyone who reviews. I shall bear your children or something.

(And as a side note, new fandoms of mine include : The Vampire Diaries, Hollywood Undead (They're so flossy :'D and if you get that reference, I'll also bear your children) The Forbidden Game and assassin's creed. Leonardo is just lovely (:B )

Thank you ever so much for reading, and reviews literally make me all warm and fuzzy inside :B


	12. God Help Us

Chapter 12

* * *

Integra and Walter weren't quite sure how it had happened. They had been in the kitchen, discussing how much of a monumental shit-up this entire scenario was, though in much more eloquent language. When they turned around to look at Alucard, they reeled. He'd disappeared. They didn't know it, but he had slunk off to find Lady.  
"…Blast." Integra glowered at the sofa where Alucard should have been sleeping, willing him to slink in through the floor, smirk on his face, going 'Surely you weren't _worried_ about me Integra,' or at least saying something to that effect. She would reply with the usual off-hand remark on his barbarism, and then he would float off, fix everything with Dante, and they could go home and return to 'normal' life.  
He didn't appear.  
"Very well put, Sir," Walter sighed. "I'll call Seras. She may be able to track him down."  
Integra continued to stare at the sofa. The light was filtering through the clear windows, cutting through the air and illuminating every last dust particle. There was nothing out of place in the room. And yet it felt odd. Not quite as it should be. Empty.  
"Yes… Yes, have her find him," Integra muttered.  
An itchy, uncomfortable feeling blossomed inside of her. Something was seriously wrong. Alucard had always had a habit of floating off when it suited him, but he'd never gone without some indication of when he'd be back. And the seizures he'd had too…  
"And Walter," she continued, looking the older gent straight in the eyes.  
"Yes ma'am?"  
"Make sure she hurries."  
"Of course, Sir Integra."

Walter fumbled with the room's phone. After a few attempts, and cross-checking the number with the one Integra had, he gave a sigh.  
"She's not picking up. I suppose she might have not seen my message, and wondered off to find me. Sir, I shall go and look for her myself; I'm ever so sorry about all this."  
Integra shook her head.  
"No, no. It's fine Walter really." She paused, frowning. "Actually, let's go together. I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I'd rather not let us get separated."  
"Ah. Very good, Sir."  
They stepped into the elevator together. No sooner had the doors closed than the vent in the roof got torn off and the two Brits got dragged through, struggling against a mass of iron-strong arms.

* * *

Lady woke up. It didn't feel like waking though. It felt like she opened her eyes and everything, even her very soul, was covered in treacle. She felt uncomfortable in her own skin, like little beams of heat were flowing through her. When she did touch her skin though, it felt cold.

And that's when she remembered.

"No!" she gasped, sitting up straight, and clutching her neck.  
It was completely healed. Lady felt despair fill her up, turning her insides into a cold, squirming, uncomfortable mess of a thing.  
"Good afternoon," Alucard purred.  
Lady lashed her head up at him.  
They were in a small, cluttered, and rather aged room. Thin, threadbare curtains just about managed to blot out most of the sunlight which blared through the muddied, single pane window. Lady was on a cheap bed, with a thin duvet covering her body and a lumpy pillow propping her up. She noted there was a wooden cane resting by the door. A wooden cane she could make good use of against Him. She flicked her eyes to him, and saw he was leaning with his elbows on his knees, and had given himself a different look.

Alucard had shaved a few years off, and his features were sharper and more beautifully terrifying than before. His eyes were now like a hawk's; narrowed dangerously, seeming to see everything, and glowing bloody crimson. As he grinned, his fangs seemed somehow sharper and whiter than they had been, and Lady saw blood which had remained in between them. A pang of fear fled down her spine, and took the breath out of her chest. Knowing your blood had been consumed and actually seeing it in the mouth of a monster were two completely different things entirely. Billowing from the crown of his head, his black hair was now tumbling down his back, a waterfall of black locks, flickering and falling in a way that framed his face perfectly, it seemed to quiver with excitement. Lady stopped herself. That was stupid.

Gone was his heavy red coat and black suit. He'd either been shopping, or clothed himself with some unknowable vampire power. He was now just wearing a black t-shirt, a black pair of jeans, and black trainers.  
"I am not much of a fan of today's fashion," he admitted, noticing Lady peering at the outfit, which did not seem right on him, "But, sacrifices have to be made, if we are to stay hidden."  
"…We?" Lady quizzed, clutching the duvet tightly, her nails almost piercing it. "I don't remember ever being a part of a '_we'_ with _you._"  
Alucard carried on watching her, silent. Lady was going to carry on, throwing every insult at him she could possibly think of, but she chose not to. She needed to be clever. Fury and force weren't going to help her get out of this mess.  
They remained in silence for a short while. Lady could feel the difference in her body already: her throat was parched; everything she saw was brighter, more vivid, and much more real; and her irritability had gone from a niggling voice in her head to a full blown fury that she was struggling to reign in.  
"That's what happens," Alucard piped in, "Whatever you were like before, it's going to be amplified to such an intense amount now that you're one of us." His voice was full of a sick joy, but it wasn't mocking, and it was the same with his face. "You'll learn to embrace it though. Once you've tasted human blood and felt the power rushing-"  
Lady growled, and launched at him with a new found speed and strength that she was barely able to control. Though he could have easily held her off, or dodged out of the way, he let her tackle him off the chair and grasp his throat, nails digging in as she attempted to choke the life out of him.  
"I hate you," she snarled, teeth barred and face inches from his as she carried on clawing at his throat. "And I will _never_ embrace being a filthy, blood-obsessed monster."  
The corner of Alucard's mouth crept up slowly.  
"You already are," he stated.

* * *

Patty skipped down the street, half singing some pop song she was currently addicted to. As a young girl with a penchant for girly things, she had every right to skip down a street in such a fashion. She was also very aware of this fact. Because of this, she was very irritated when a car, which was mowing ferociously down the road, almost crashed into her.  
Out of the car clambered a platinum blonde woman, donning a smart, well-tailored suit, and round spectacles. She was breathless, panicked, and looked extremely pissed off.  
"Little girl," she gabbled, clawing at the pavement to help her scramble out of the car faster, "Please, if you see a man with black hair and red eyes, tell him that Integra and Walter are-"  
She was cut off by two men appearing from the car which she was trying to get away from, grabbing her and yanking her down the street.

Patty watched with terrified eyes as one of the men punched her in the stomach, causing her to keel over and cough up blood. Two more men, struggling to carry an unconscious elderly man and another blonde, who she could have sworn she recognised, also scuttled out of the car, growling and swearing like sailors.  
In an attempt to get away, Integra, with a battle cry of 'Bloody arse holes', kicked one of the assailants in the crotch and he keeled over like a domino, falling onto the floor with a pathetic groan. The other, shocked by Integra's furious antic, let out his own battle cry, along the lines of 'you crazy bitch', and grabbed a fist full of her hair. Lashing out with her elbow, which was apparently rather pointy, she managed to crack into his ribs, knocking the air out of him. He released her from shock. Integra staggered away, lunging at one of the other goons who had Walter. The goon saw her coming. With one fell swoop, he back-handed her right across the face. Her glasses got knocked from her face and she keeled over from the force, smashing her head pretty hard on the pavement.

Patty was shaking, watching all this from behind some bins which she had ducked behind. Integra gave her one last pleading look before unconsciousness took her.  
The kidnappers didn't notice Patty. They bundled Walter and Integra away, dragging them into the maze of alleyways that spread through the city like a lymph system. They didn't notice her terrified face. They didn't notice her ruined dress. They didn't notice the phone she had been talking down.

* * *

"Trish, where are you…?" Dante grunted down the phone, "I left my keys in Lady's apartment, and I can't get in there or in my office. Call me, okay?"  
Lethys looked up at him with apologetic eyes.  
"Sorry," she said automatically.  
Dante gave her a lop-sided grin as he hung up.  
"Don't apologise, it's pointless. And anyway, it's not your fault is it?"  
She shrugged.  
"I guess. But still."  
"Still what?" Dante smiled, crossing his arms and puffing up his chest. "Really, you worry too much."  
Lethys grinned up at him.  
"Yeah, I know. It's kinda like… I don't know. I guess I've just got a lot to worry about."  
Dante patted her on the back.  
"Don't worry kid, things get easier. And anyway, we've got to go find these werewolves…er, Demons…whatever."  
Lethys groaned.  
"That can never, never be a good thing."  
"Nope, but it's gotta be done," Dante sighed.

"…Is it really just you then…?" Lethys asked, peering up at the demon hunter.  
Dante tilted his head.  
"Is it just me what?"  
"That can do what you do?"  
"Which is…?"  
"…I don't really know. I mean. You're not human, right?"  
"I guess, so, yeah," Dante grunted, turning away from her.  
"But… You're not like, um. You're not like other demons, right?"  
"Yeah, that's about right."  
"…That's good. I like it," she smiled.  
Dante turned around, one eyebrow raised in interest.  
"Oh?" He smirked. "You like it, huh?"  
Lethys nodded, oblivious to his tone of voice that implied a whole different meaning. Dante chuckled, shaking his head.  
"…Speaking of not being human, you're an elf, yeah?"  
Lethys nodded.  
"The woman who kidnapped you… She said you're the last. Is that true?"  
Lethys peered up at him then looked away. She opened her mouth to speak, before closing it again.  
"…I'm not the last. I mean, there are thousands, even hundreds or thousands of others," she finally answered. "It's just… They keep to themselves, or so I hear. I mean. They live in either a different world, like the demons do, or underground. I'm not sure which."  
"You're not sure?"  
"My parents never really told me. They just said 'They're more trouble than they're worth. And ridiculously stuck up. It's best to stay away.' And so I have done."  
"Where are your parents?"  
"They're travelling around Europe," she sighed. "And decided that I 'need to become more independent', so took nothing with them which would let me contact them."  
Dante whistled in awe.  
"And I thought my 'rents were bad."  
Lethys shrugged.  
"You gotta let them go and make their own mistakes, right?" She grinned. "Can't baby them forever."  
Dante smirked.  
"I'd say that's about right."

They trawled down the streets in silence for a short while, just happy to have a little bit of peace in between the business and drama of the last few weeks.  
"Say… You don't have a gun, do you?" Dante asked, coming to a standstill.  
"Um… No."  
"I'm not giving her one," Morrison stated, plodding down the street towards them.  
Patty was tailing him with skittish movements. Lethys jumped, having not spotted them approaching.  
"What's up with her?" Dante asked. Patty stuck her tongue out at him, and Dante raised an eyebrow. "Nevermind… Looks like she's fine."  
"She saw some people getting kidnapped. She's a bit shook up," he mumbled. "I had to listen to it all on the phone, so I went to pick her up, to check if she was okay."  
"I'm FINE," she cried, sticking her nose in the air. "I called the police, so there."  
Dante rolled his eyes. The police were all idiots.  
"Hey Morrison," he started, ignoring the scoff Patty made when she realised he was changing subjects. "Can you go and ask Lady if it was werewolves or demons at the cafe? I need to go and check something."  
"Check what, Dante?" Morrison asked, brushing off his jumper to stave off the drops of rain that had started splattering on him.  
"Oh, it's nothing important but-"  
"Dante. Check what?" Morrison got sterner.  
"Okay, we've got a bunch of ex-werewolves who are now demons or something to that effect, running around the city." When Morrison gave him a lost look, Dante nodded at Lethys. "She'll explain. I'm gunna go scope the city – check for any trouble."  
Morrison waited a moment before nodding.  
"Yeah, that's a good idea."  
"Oh, and if you see Trish, get her to give me a call could you? She went to go find some info on Weres, but now I can't get a hold of her."  
"Sure thing Dante."

As Dante leapt onto the roof of the nearest building, Patty and Lethys and Morrison stood, not quite sure where to go, in the middle of the street. Morrison took off his hat and wiped his brow with the back of his wrist.  
"Sounds like we're up to our neck in trouble again, eh…?"

* * *

Seras choked. She was bound by chains, and trapped in some dark, dank room; an old prison cell. She pulled against the chains, but they were gripping hooks in the walls, and set fast.  
"Bloody hell," she muttered. "What a mess."  
"You're awake then?" Called out another female voice.  
Seras peered across the room, noticing movement she hadn't before.  
"Um, yeah. My name's Seras. Who are you?"  
"I'm Trish."  
"Where are we?"  
"I don't know," Trish sighed. "I don't know where we are and I don't know what demon crap they've got on these chains, but they're really burning my skin. And my whole body feels like it's on fire."  
Seras frowned. The chains weren't hurting her at all. And then, it hit her. She should be able to see perfectly clearly in the dark, but she could barely make out the form of the blonde on the other side of the cell.  
"Really? Mine feel fine. But," she felt a dull crackle of something inside of her, something she'd never felt before, "I do feel weird. Maybe they drugged us?"  
"Nah, drugs wouldn't affect me. Plus, whoever it was who kidnapped me just smashed a massive wooden pole into the back of my head; why do that AND drug us? And why would drugs make me feel so damn hungry?"  
Seras realised her hunger had gone too.  
"Wait… Wait a minute. Do your teeth feel like they're grinding into your jaw…?"  
"…Yes."  
"And… And your stomach, it's screaming at you, right? And your throat feels like it has never felt water?"  
"Okay, what's your point…?"  
Seras reeled.  
"I think your chains are silver."  
"Right, but… Oh," Trish's voice fell and she snapped to attention. "OH. You're a vampire, aren't you?"  
"Yes…"  
"…Well. This is a monumental shit-up."  
"Yeah, that's sums it up pretty well," Seras sighed. She pulled at the chains, and through the small crack of light that was creeping in through the bars of the cell, she saw they did appear to be silver. "When did I bite you…?"  
"What…? You didn't bite me," Trish exhaled, shaking her head.  
"I didn't?" Seras questioned, genuinly shocked. "Then how are you...?"  
"No, you see, I used to be a demon. Me and my friend, well, colleague, Dante, we've got ourselves into a bit of a mess. We think there's someone, or some people, who are switching the powers of supernatural creatures."  
"Dante?" Seras breathed, her mind racing.  
"Yeah."

Trish filled in Seras on the details of Lethys and all that had taken place in the last few weeks. When she reached the bit with Alucard, Seras started squirming.  
"So. The little blonde vampire. I'm guessing that's you?" Trish asked, her eyes locking on Seras through the darkness. Seras nodded. "Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, but you're not a vampire anymore. You're a demon."  
Seras's insides jarred as she took it all in. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire' she thought, groaning internally.  
"Just try something for me," Trish continued, ignoring the face of disgust that Seras was unintentionally pulling. "I can produce lightning; that's my demonic power. If you produce enough, and melt the chains, you should be able to get free. Can you give it a shot?"  
Seras looked up. So that was what the uncomfortable crackly feeling was.  
"Uh, sure I guess… Actually, I have no idea how to even begin."  
Trish chuckled.  
"I'm sorry, I probably should have explained. Right," she shifted to sit more comfortably. "You can feel that jitteriness inside of you, yes?"  
"Yeah…?"  
"Right, well, you just kind of have to channel it through to your hands."  
Seras's face fell, and she slouched further onto the dank floor.  
"That doesn't really help."  
"Just try it," Trish snapped, feeling something stir in her which wanted to rip Seras's head off. Then it settled. "Ah… I'm guessing that was part of The Hunger then…?"  
Seras nodded. Then she set about trying to wish electricity to beam out of her hands.

Half an hour later, and after a lot of swearing and shouting, Trish had finally managed to get Seras to summon lightning. It wasn't much, but after a while she really managed to crank up the energy, focusing it all on the chains and getting them to reach a scorching 900 degrees, melting them light butter.  
"Right, now let me out," Trish commanded.  
Seras did as she was told, and Trish let out a breath of relief, rubbing her arms where the silver had scorched her. The wounds healed fast, but slow for a vampire.  
"…I guess I'm _this_ hungry for a reason, hm…?" She spoke, her voice low with disapproval.  
"Yeah, well, shut up," Seras growled, charging up to the bars.  
She grabbed one of them, and shot out as much lightning as she physically could. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. Though the bars began to glow bright, it wasn't enough to melt through.  
"Damn. Must be iron," Trish hissed. "I never could produce enough heat to melt through it."  
Seras sighed, leaning against the bar despondently.  
"I'm sorry. I guess if I drank more you might be able to slink through as a shadow, but…"  
Trish snapped her head up.  
"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get out of here, you'll see."  
Seras nodded glumly.

* * *

"It's time we got you some food," Alucard smirked.  
Lady scrambled up off the floor, backing up and standing on the other side of the room, glowering at him.  
"I don't want your 'food'. I want to be a human," she growled.  
"This is the second creature I've made who's said that. But this time I can do whatever I want to make you drink; no Integra holding me back," he pondered, smiling with his fangs glinting as the sliver of sunlight bounced off them.  
Lady felt a shiver of fear creep up her spine, and she backed further into the worn old chest of drawers behind her.  
Alucard stood up to his full height, almost hitting his head on the ceiling.  
"You will follow me, Lady," he commanded.  
Though she didn't want to, something within Lady couldn't disobey his command, and as he began to saunter out of the room, her legs began moving by themselves – she followed.  
As she did, however, she grabbed the cane from beside the door. He had already rounded the corner as she stepped into the corridor, so with a quick movement, she snapped it in half, giving herself a make-shift stake. She slid in into the side of her shorts, and covered it up with her shirt.

"Ah..."  
Alucard had stepped outside, and though it was overcast with a few droplets of rain, there was not enough cloud cover to shield Lady from the sun's merciless glare. He turned to face her.  
"Shall we…?"  
Lady was about to protest, knowing the sun would burn her, but when she peered through the doorway, thick, grey, billowing clouds were building up in the sky, truly choking out all remnants of sunlight. Looking at Alucard with wide eyes, she hesitated.  
"…Fine," she gave in after a moment. "If you make the cloud disappear, at least I'll burst into flames. It'll be a hell of a lot less painful than being here with you."  
Alucard' mouth twitched. He strode out without a word. Lady was compelled, through no fault of her own, to follow him.

It just so happened, and unknown to them all, that the street of the motel that Alucard had rented a room of was also the same street as Morrison, Patty and Lethys had been stood on. Alucard bounded down the street. Lady stalked him, miserable. Morrison and Patty plodded down as Lethys explained what had gone down at the café. The two sides neared each other.  
Alucard was the first to spot the others, just as the rain began to fall. He recognised Patty and Morrison from the diner. Lethys, he didn't recognise, but he could smell her blood more strongly than the other two. And he knew she was different immediately.  
He noted that the little girl asked to leave while she went to look at dresses in a shop, wanting to avoid the bad weather. Morrison agreed. Alucard smirked. He could always hunt her down afterwards, if he wanted. Soon after, he noted Lady picking up on them, and recognising them. 'Oh god, Morrison and Lethys', she revealed to him through a simple thought. Alucard smirked. They were a good three blocks or so away –she was picking up her abilities fast.  
'_Good,'_ he thought. _'More fun for me.'_  
"This is stupid," she muttered, and Alucard stopped walking. He could feel her relief already. "Just take me where you want to take me. There's no point wandering around the city for half the day. I'm tired."  
"Oh really…? And are you sure it has nothing to do with the man and woman you just recognised, strolling right towards us?"  
Lady choked on a breath.  
"Well, Lady, why don't we go and say hello…?" He proposed, eyebrow shooting into his forehead. "I mean, it would only be fair to, before I kill them."  
"Wh-what?" Lady cried, feeling the blood pounding through her, stress causing adrenaline to course through her body.  
"They know I attacked you, and I'm in the process of getting rid of witnesses who can reveal my presence here to some soon-to-be very pissed off English Aristocracy."  
"…Wait-"  
"Oh yes. The entire reason I turned you was because you had seen me here. I _could_ have just killed you, yes, but in such a public place as a hospital, I'd have even more witnesses to deal with."  
Despair flooded through her now, overpowering the stress and fury. She itched to grab the stake and ram it through his bastard-heart. Screaming at her, her mind demanded that he die, blood trailing all over the pavement.  
And then another desire kicked in. To drink the blood of his that she so desperately wanted to spill. Alucard's grin widened.  
"If you touch one hair on their heads," Lady warned, glowering up at him.  
"You'll what…?" He mocked, leering down at her with flashing eyes. "There is nothing you can do, and you know it."  
Lady shrunk down, but remained glaring at him.  
"…Lady…?" Morrison called, as he neared.

Lethys looked up to where Morrison was peering. She noticed Alucard blinding red eyes immediately and drew back. Grabbing Morrison's arm, she tried to stop him.  
"What's wrong Lethys?" He grumbled, looking at the girl with lost eyes.  
"That man with Lady… He's a-"  
Lethys didn't get to finish her sentence. Lady was clawing at Alucard's arm, trying to stop him nearing the pair, whereas Morrison was charging up to them, completely ignoring her.  
"Hey, I know you," Morrison began, recognising Alucard from Dante's description. "You're… Wait. You're the one who attacked Dante aren't… WAIT. You didn't just attack him, but…"  
Morrison lashed his eyes from Alucard to Lady and back again. Lady was furious, desperate, and almost every emotion in between. She had just about managed to deal with the situation up until then, but the distraught, confused look on Morrison's face was crushing her inside. Lethys was just frozen, twitching nervously every few seconds.  
"That's two out of your little cabal I've managed to, hm... Ravage. I shouldn't think there's many of you left to deal with, now is there…? You, and this girl here. That, ah, Patty is it? She'll be next after you two. And then that delectable blonde woman as well," he drawled, his wicked smile playing about his face. "And next time I meet Dante, I'll put him in his grave for good."

The rain was pouring down now. Thick sheets of the stuff thundered from the heavens, spilling over the pavements, flowing into drains, sloshing down buildings. They were all soon soaked through, as they stood, tense, watching each other carefully. Lethys was the first to make a move.

* * *

A/N;; This chapter was originally going to be a lot longer, but I figured it's harder to follow what's going on with so many setting changes all in one big chunk, so I'm breaking it down.

Plus, it means I can update faster, and that's always good :'D

Thank you for the reviews (:D For some reason I can't reply, but I did read them.

I realise the last chapter was dreadfully confusing. I forgot you guys don't know of my plan, so while I know what's going on, you're still all stuck in mind-fuck land, and for that I apologise xD

Also, Trish and Morrison and Patty are probably a bit out of character. In fact, a lot of them are. It's been a while since I've watched DMC (and I've gone and leant the DVDs to my friend, like a right bloody tool) so I don't really have any refs for them for a lil' while.

And sorry for all the ranting authors notes. I get a bit excited and hyper when I'm about to post, so I tend to ramble on and on and it's irritating xD

So, again, I'm sorry :I

Thanks for ready, really. You all make my life :B

**[e]**

**A/N 2 ;;**

Okay, I've got a couple of reviews in, and I would jsut like to clear up something. I do realise a lot of the main characters have been changed and such, and I KNOW that's practically a sin fanfiction-wise, but I would just like to say that I have a plan xD

It may not sound like an important thing, but it means I still have everything under control, and, without giving out too much away, it's still possible for them all to return to normal. To be honest, it's blaringly obvious what I'm going to do, so I'm surprised no one's thought of it (Though, you may have and I just don't know.)

Please bear with me while I churn out the next few chapters, which I'm hoping will start to clear up this mess. It's important plot-wise, but I can see it's really pissed a few people off xD

I don't want to end up like THOSE people who go and ruin all universes and fandoms and the fanfiction spirals out of control and get set on fire by an angry mob of people.

So yeah,

Don't worry yo.

It's aaaaall a part of a plan.

And in my defence, isn't over-the-top plot lines and end of the world-esque goings on part of the charm of both series? (Okay, maybe there isn't QUITE so much all going on at one, but that should calm down too soon.)

Again, I apologise, but bear with me.


End file.
